Complicated
by SaraLovesYou
Summary: Being the 'baby' sister of Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, was never exactly fun. Hidden in her brother's shadow her entire life, Samantha Barton just might have found someone who understands her pain, even if he IS trying to enslave the human race. But hey, who said that her life was anything other than complicated?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, here's the first chapter of my new story, and it's the first Avengers story I have written, so forgive me if it's not very good. Let me know what you guys think :D**

**!#$%^**

Normal.

What exactly is _normal_?

It could be many things, but I suppose the definition would vary depending on the person asked to describe it. But I know that whatever it was, I was never a part of it. I didn't exactly grow up in a _normal_ environment, what with my brother being who he was, after all. Most people tell me that I should be glad to have a brother like Clint, but I didn't fall for that crap. Yeah, my big brother was Clint Barton, the great and mighty _Hawkeye_. And I was Samantha Barton, useless younger sister.

We were really close when we were little, but that soon changed when S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited him. He made sure that they gave me a job as well, but it was nowhere near as glamorous as his own. He went on missions all over the world, and I was stuck getting all of the important people their stupid coffee. Now I _am_ grateful for them taking us in, because we had nowhere else to go at the time, and they gave us an option we hadn't thought possible, but that doesn't mean that I have to like my job.

He did his best as an older brother, and taught me all that he knew about archery, but I was never as good as him. Sure, I was probably better than your average person, but I came nowhere near the skill that Clint had. But martial arts were another matter entirely. After a few years, he didn't have any more time to teach me anything else, so he left it to one of his best friends, Natasha Romanoff, otherwise known as the Black Widow.

Now, at first I was absolutely terrified of her, and just the mere sight of her made my pulse quicken. But after a few lessons with her, and after I had my ass handed to me multiple times, I learned to live with her scary-ness. It kind of grows on you, after a while, that is. I quickly got a hang of the moves she taught me, and was even able to get close to beating her a few times.

We didn't _like_ each other, exactly, but we had grown to respect each other for the skill that we each possessed. I was like a mini Black Widow, except I was sarcastic and hated S.H.I.E.L.D. with all of my heart. And I had brown hair, and blue eyes. And I didn't get along with Clint, whereas she was practically in love with him. And I suppose I was nothing like her at all.

I sighed, and continued walking down the hallway. Natasha was a morning person, and she always scheduled our sparring lessons super early, forcing me to get up at an ungodly hour every couple of weeks. I suppose it wasn't too bad, since we didn't do this too often. She was always out on missions around the world, but she somehow managed to make time for me every once in a while.

The lights were dim, as it was still dark outside, and there was no one else around as I walked forward. I managed to get to the room without being late, 4:30 on the dot. Natasha was standing on the other side of the room with her hands tucked behind her back. She turned when she heard me enter through the doorway, and nodded.

"I have to be half way across the world in less than two hours, so let's make this quick,"

I gave her a sleepy smile, and stretched out my arms, trying to get them ready for fighting. If I was still stiff when we started fighting, she would have me down in no time at all. After a few minutes of some basic stretches, I jumped up and got into an offensive stance. I was usually the one who was on the defensive side, waiting for my opponent to give me an opening before I attacked. Natasha told me that it was a good tactic, but I had to include more offensive moves if I wanted to make a real impact on the person I was fighting.

She was on me in an instant, and I only barely had time to block her strike. That was something that I would never get used to, the fact that the Widow was so _fast_.

She let out a flurry of movements, and I tried my best to block all of them, but a kick managed to hit my side. It only took a moment before my training fully kicked in, and I stopped thinking, and instead _reacted_. I feigned an attack to her left, and almost hit her, before turning and landing a kick to her stomach, causing her to stumble backwards a little bit. I tried to take advantage of her temporary weakness, and punched outwards. It would have hit her had I been a second earlier, but as it was, she grabbed my hand and twisted it to the breaking point.

Wincing, I knelt down and swerved my body around so that I could use my momentum to break her hold. I got away, and went to throw a kick at her legs, but she moved away from me, and countered with her own kick that successfully managed to knock me down onto the floor.

I jumped back up, but she sent another punch my way, one that I was only barely able to block. She threw another one, and it forced me onto my knees. I held my hands up over my face, trying to block all of her attacks.

She kept attacking me, and it seemed like I was doomed. She knew that all I could do now was block her strikes, but she didn't stop. She never stopped without me saying something to her, which I wasn't about to do. I never admitted defeat. I wouldn't, _couldn't_.

Somehow, throughout my being beat up, my thoughts wandered over to Clint, and I came to a realization. My brother could beat Natasha, or could at least come close to it, so why couldn't I? I began to get angry, knowing that my brother could do something that I could not. My vision soon turned red, and I jumped up from my kneeling position, thrusting my leg out and hitting her in the stomach once again. She stumbled back, only this time she nearly fell down.

I launched myself at her the second she stopped hitting me. I kicked her legs out from under her, and when she stood up, I grabbed her shoulder and flipped myself over her. Before she had a chance to turn around, I elbowed her in the head, and she went down.

I was still seething, but I knew that I had to stop. I took a deep breath, and tried to calm myself down.

Natasha picked herself up off of the ground, and put a hand to the back of her head, turning to me. She stared at me for a second, before she let out a smile.

"You actually took me down," She looked me up and down. "Do that more often." She commanded, before walking out of the room and to her plane. After she was gone, I held a hand up in mock salute.

"Yes _ma'am_!" I muttered, before rubbing my left cheek. Natasha had hit me pretty hard there, and I knew that if I looked in the mirror I could probably see a bruise forming.

Ignoring the pain that had spread through my body, I headed out of the door, thinking to myself.

I had little to no friends in S.H.I.E.L.D, and was rarely ever allowed to go out into the real world, not even to get normal clothes! For the first year they had forced me to wear their stupid little uniform, but after a while I had had enough of the itchy costume, and I snuck out of the facility, even though it was forbidden. Now, believe me, it is NOT easy to sneak out of a heavily armed fortress, but all of the moves Clint and Natasha had taught me had paid off, and I managed to get by without them noticing.

At first, they were baffled at how I had managed to get my hands on skinny jeans and t-shirts, but soon enough they found out what I had been doing. After a severe scolding, and a warning never to do it again, I repeated my actions once again. They caught me, of course, but after a couple more times they stopped caring about it altogether. They knew that I wasn't a threat, and that's all that mattered to them. Stupid pricks.

My steps echoed as I made my way to the vending machine, as I was craving junk food. The other food here was so ... _healthy_.

I didn't like healthy things.

I smiled to myself as I walked, and looked down at my new phone. After years of begging and begging, S.H.I.E.L.D. finally gave in, and gave me a cell phone. I found out soon after that it was useless, as I had no one to talk to. I had no friends whatsoever, and the only person that had a cell phone here wasn't about to give me their number. It was sad, but at least I had my apps to mess around with.

I was playing a game called "Angry Birds", not noticing where I was going, when I ran smack into someone. My years of training sent me into a defensive stance, and I dropped my phone and lifted my hands to block any incoming attacks. But when I realized who it was I had ran into, my stance immediately fell. I rolled my eyes, annoyed.

It was Clint.

Oh, joy.

I narrowed my eyes at my brother's tall form. I scoffed, and bent over to pick up my phone, which seemed to be fine. I roughly brushed past my brother, and continued on my way to the vending machines.

My brother and I had our… _issues_. Like I said before, we used to be close. _Used_ to be being the key word. When we were little, our parents had died in a car crash, leaving the two of us alone to live in an orphanage. That was where Clint had developed his skills, and S.H.I.E.L.D. found us. My brother had to bargain with them to take me in, but he managed to do it.

After a couple of years at S.H.I.E.L.D., Clint didn't have the time to take care of his little sister anymore. I know that I shouldn't be so harsh on him, since it wasn't really his fault, but it still hurt me to know that my brother cared more about his job than he did about me. I tried to move on, but I couldn't. It's not like I could just stroll up to them and say, "Hey, I hate you guys! Can I go and do something else now?" That would go over _very_ well, I'm sure.

I heard Clint sigh, and then start to run after me. I picked up my pace, but I knew that if he wanted to talk to me, he would find a way to, no matter what I did to stop him. So I slowed down, and let him catch up to me. He shook his head at me, and put his hand on my shoulder, stopping me from going any further down the hallway.

"Yes, _brother_?" I drawled, wanting this to be over as soon as possible.

Clint narrowed his eyes at me, and gritted his teeth.

I smirked; I just _loved_ making him angry. It always led to something interesting. I know that I probably shouldn't enjoy it so much, since this was my brother we were talking about, but somehow just seeing the Golden Boy of S.H.I.E.L.D getting angry over something as little as this, well, it was funny.

"They told me you got out again last night," He spoke, making my blood boil with every word. I glared at him.

"I am not some _pet_ of theirs that they can control! And I didn't sneak out; I walked right out of the stupid front door, with the guards still awake, even," I spat.

It's not like me sneaking out was anything unusual; I did it almost every week! I needed to get away from S.H.I.E.L.D. last night, and it seemed like the only option I had at the moment. What else was I supposed to do, just sit there and do nothing? I have been with S.H.I.E.L.D ever since I was thirteen years old, and now I was twenty three and they _still_ haven't sent me out on any missions yet.

Sure, my _brother_ and _Natasha_ got to go out and do things for them, but I was stuck getting all of the important people coffee, and making sure that everything looked nice and neat for anyone who came and visited. I was old enough now, and I wanted to actually do something! I was skilled, and more than ready to fight! Why they didn't see that was beyond me. I didn't even have a gun!

"I don't care if the guards held the door open for you; you know that you're supposed to stay here! I will _not_ have you disobey the rules, Samantha!" He shouted in his deathly calm voice. Clint had a scary way of not exactly _yelling_ at you, but speaking sternly enough that it made you want to crawl up into a ball and cry because you were such a big failure. At least that's what it did to me, anyways.

I sighed, and bit my lip. What was I supposed to say to him? I closed my eyes, before getting angry again and glaring up at him. He was at least a foot taller than me, as I wasn't exactly the tallest person ever. But I was not short. Never shall I be considered _short_.

"Fine, Clint. Let me apologize: I'm sorry, my _dearest_ brother, it was a mistake, one that shall not be made again. Well, at least until the next time I decide to sneak out, that is. Which, with the day I've been having, will probably be _tonight_," I smiled at him, my mood brightening when I saw his eyes light up with anger. I would always enjoy seeing him like this.

"Samantha, you don't know what you're talking about. How could you continue to mock S.H.I.E.L.D. after all they've done for us? How could you forget that they took us in when we had nowhere else to go to? They took us in when _no one else did_. Be grateful for that, because I will _not_ put up with you when you behave like this."

I stared at him for a long while, trying to remember where I'd heard that tone of speech before. Then it came back to me, and I shook my head at him.

"Look at you, Clint," I bit my lip even harder. "So young, and already you sound like Dad." I glared at him, before turning on my heels and headed for my room. Of course, the second I began walking away he ran after me, grabbing my shoulder.

As an instant reaction to him touching me, I whipped back and twisted his elbow to the breaking point. The was no time at all before my brother's own training kicked in, and he pulled his arm back in, successfully bringing my down onto my knees, his elbow wrapped around my neck. I took a breath, before swinging my legs up and over, landing on his back. He barely held up my weight, but slammed back into a wall, trying to get me off. My back hit the wall, _hard_, and I let go of Clint and fell to the ground.

He realized what he was doing, and stopped before he knocked me out. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He held out his hand to help me up, but I smacked it aside as I stood on my own. I backed away from him, and glared with all of my might.

"Let's get one thing straight, Clint. S.H.I.E.L.D took _you_ in, not _me_. You had to bargain with them to get me in here, and now I work as an errand girl, running off to get people their coffee. I never got to have a life other than S.H.I.E.L.D. I have _never_ known anything other than _this_, so I don't see why it's such a big deal that I sneak out sometimes. It's not like I have very many missions to take care of anyways, because _you_ have all of those, don't you Clint?" I hissed, my voice cracking when I spoke his name.

"Sammie, listen, I'm _sorry_-"

"Save it." I cut him off the second he tried using his old nickname for me. He tried speaking again, but I merely scoffed at him, and started sprinting to the only place in this damned facility that I can actually call my own.

My home.

When I first came to S.H.I.E.L.D., they offered me my own quarters with everyone else, and I took it. Then, when they moved the quarters higher up, I had wanted to stay where I was. It could get lonely sometimes down here, but when was I _not_ lonely?

I slammed open my door, and trudged into my room. The walls were covered in the latest stars, and I had CDs scattered here and there. I occasionally listened to music, when I wasn't off on another errand for whoever wanted something from me.

I threw myself onto my bed, taking a little comfort from the soft material of the pillow against the side of my face. I sighed, all of my energy zapped from my body. I was always exhausted after fights with Clint, and today was no different. Sure, I loved getting him angry, but somehow I always regretted it afterwards. You'd think that I would stop if I regretted it, right? But no, I had to keep doing something that I wished I could take back, every single time.

I loved Clint, don't get me wrong. Maybe that's why I was _doing_ this, because I loved him. I couldn't imagine life without him, but at the same time, he didn't have to be stuck a stuck up jerk about everything he did!

Do you know how hard it is when you're constantly hidden by your brother's shadow? That no matter what you do, you can't ever make a name for yourself because of _him_. Because of him, I was an errand girl that got people coffee and other things. I didn't want to be that forever, but I had no life with S.H.I.E.L.D, at least not one where I can be my own person, instead of 'Clint's sister', or, 'Hawkeye's little sister'. I needed to get away from S.H.I.E.L.D., and I didn't know how I was going to do that.

Maybe I could run away. Or I could go up to the person in charge and demand that they give me some real work, or I'll leave. Ha! Who am I kidding? I would never be able to do something like that, and I for _sure_ would never get away with it.

I sighed, and let my pillow catch my tears.

**!#$%^**

**A/N: Hey, kiddies! So, I just watched the movie, and I loved it. I fell in love with both Clint AND Loki. I love them both equally, and that's why I decided to write this story. Please let me know what you think about it so far! The next chapter should be out sometime on Monday, since tomorrow is Mother's Day and I will not be able to write :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! So, I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed and put this story on their alerts, it means a lot to me! In this chapter, we see where the movie begins, and of course, we get to see Loki! And who doesn't want that? Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

**!#$%^**

I fell back asleep after that, and dreamt of the usual things. When I woke up an hour later, it was fifteen after six; still earlier than I would have liked to be up. If I had my way, I'd be asleep until noon. But of course; this was S.H.I.E.L.D we were talking about. There were always things to be up and doing this early in the morning.

I sighed, and reluctantly got up and changed into my everyday clothes.

Headed out of my room, I was checking my phone when I smacked into someone, and this time, I was sent flying backwards. Whipping my head up to find the person who I had ran into, my eyes searched the space in front of me.

"Why don't you watch where yo-"

When I caught sight of who I had run into, I immediately shut up. My posture went erect from years of training, and I bowed my head slightly.

"Agent Hill."

Maria Hill nodded back at me, and turned to go the other way, motioning for me to follow her. I fell into step beside her, and blinked my eyes a few times in confusion. Why was _Maria Hill_ down here? Obviously, she had been looking for me, but _why_? No one ever sought me out, unless they _really_ wanted their coffee. Though common sense told me that that wasn't the reason she was here.

"Agent Hill, why did y-"

She held up a hand, and gave me a brief smile before speaking.

"Why don't you just follow me, and find out?" She said.

I paused for a moment, before shrugging my shoulders and trailing after her silently. She led me to the headquarters, where I was fascinated to see so many computers. There were people running about, trying to get somewhere. I had delivered coffee to a lot of places in this S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, but somehow I had never once been to the HQ.

Maria finally stopped, and turned to me.

"Miss Barton, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. has decided that you should be trusted with an assignment. It is of... Miss Barton? Miss Barton, are you alright?" Her voice snapped me out of my trance.

There was no way this could be happening to me! I have been waiting for _years_ for this mission, and now it was finally going to happen!

"I'm fine, ma'am. Please, continue," I could barely contain my excitement as I spoke, and my voice trembled slightly. Maria gave a small smile, before she started speaking again.

"The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. has made the decision to trust you with this assignment, which he considers to be of top priority. This is strictly confidential, and only for those who can be relied on. If you choose to accept, you will be sent to speak with director Fury in person, and he will tell you the details. Now, for the meantime, we shall-"

"She's not ready."

Right then, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't _think_. All that was on my mind right now was the person standing behind me. I knew that voice from anywhere, and this time I wanted to start crying. I had to know that this would happen, I _had_ to.

Slowly turning around, I gave my brother a look of total hatred.

Here was my opportunity to get out of Clint's shadow, to prove that I was _ready_, to show someone that I was _just_ as good as my brother. I had to know that there would be a catch, but I didn't expect it to be in the form of my brother.

"With all due respect, Agent Barton, the director himself trusts your sister enough to give her this mission, and-"

He cut her off once again, his eyes reflecting his anger.

"I don't care what he thinks, I am her _brother_, and _I _say that she is not ready for this." He spoke, pointing his finger at me.

Right at that moment, I _despised_ him. I stared up at his muscular form, and bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. Our eyes locked together for a moment, and I hoped that he could see the hatred in my blue orbs.

"You know what?" I spoke towards Clint. "Why do you always have to step in and _ruin_ my life? You're the one who taught me almost _everything_ that I know, and now you're saying that _I'm not ready_?" I shook my head in disbelief.

"I came to a sudden realization just a moment ago. You want to know what it was?" I didn't wait for an answer before I continued, tears in my eyes.

"I realized that I genuinely _hate_ you." I stared up at him, taking in the flash of hurt that crossed his face.

"I _hate _you." I shoved my finger into his chest, my tears finally falling down my cheeks.

"And you are no brother of mine." I turned, and walked away, wiping at my tear stained cheeks. I stopped, and turned back to Maria.

"I respectfully decline director Fury's assignment."

**!#$%^**

I spent the rest of the day holed up in my room, crying into my pillow. I had never hated a person as much as I hated Clint right now, and I actually started wishing that something would happen to make it so that I would never have to see him again.

And why on earth did I refuse the mission? Was it to get back at Clint? Whatever emotion caused this, it also caused me to grow tired, and soon I was exhausted.

I fell asleep earlier than I usually did, and woke up the next day with a skull splitting headache. I knew that it was from all of the crying I had done, and took some pain killers to dull it down a little.

I spent most of the day in my room, but knew that I had to get out of here and do something, or I would end up getting even more depressed. I was on my way out of the room when a voice came on over the speakers.

"_This is Agent Maria Hill speaking. We have a code White, I repeat, we have a code White. Please, gather all necessary items and begin heading for the exits. There will be vehicles to assist you waiting outside. Please, grab only the essentials and start heading for the exit._"

I hesitated for a moment, and let her message fully soak in. When it finally kicked in that we were having an evacuation, I sprinted back into my room to grab what I could. Eventually, the only thing I walked out of the door with was my phone.

I headed up the stairs and to the main exits, but before I got very far, a voice called out to me.

"Miss Barton!" It was a man's voice, one I hadn't heard before. I turned around, and saw Nick Fury standing only a few feet away, with Maria Hill by his side. My jaw dropped at the sight of him, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"Miss Barton, would you please accompany me to the lower levels?" He asked, and started walking before I had time to respond. I immediately began following him.

I thought to myself, and wondered what was down in the lower levels. Then I remembered.

The cube thing that they found in the ocean, the... what was it called? The Tesseract, I believe. I had heard that it was down there, but never thought too much of it. Now he was taking me down to the lower levels, and I didn't even know why he was bringing me along with him.

As we were walking down the stairs, Maria spoke out.

"Sir? An evacuation may be futile. With the Tesseract's energy to potentially wipe out the country, there may not _be_ a minimum safe distance."

Fury didn't stop walking as he took in what she was saying. I was taken aback. So _that's_ what this was about? Was the Tesseract, like, broken or something? I knew how powerful it was, and if it was somehow malfunctioning, it could be disastrous for everyone!

They continued talking, and Fury told her to go and help with the evacuation, leaving the two of us alone.

"Sir? If I might ask, what's happening?" I asked cautiously. Fury didn't even glance over at me as he answered.

"That's what we're here to find out."

I didn't ask any more questions, and followed him into a huge room. I had been here once, but the Tesseract wasn't there when I had gone down. I narrowed my eyes, quickly realizing that this was where my brother's 'Nest' was set up. He had mentioned it a few times, but I had forgotten about it until now.

We walked over to a man I soon learned was named Erik Selvig, and that was when I first saw the Tesseract. It was in a machine, but that didn't take away from its pure, raw power. My jaw dropped for the second time that night, and I couldn't believe that I was privileged enough to be seeing this right now. Most people never got to even hear about the Tesseract, and here I was, only ten feet away from it.

I tuned back into the conversation that was around me.

"The Tesseract seems to be emitting a new form of strange energy. It's acting out."

Right as he said that, there was a spark and the scientist who was experimenting on it was forced back by the pure energy. Nick Fury seemed to be troubled, and he sighed.

"Where's Agent Barton?" He asked. I winced when he asked for my brother, and tried to hide my instant anger. I was still furious with him. Who did he think he was, controlling what happens in my life?

"Up in his Nest. He's been holed up in there since yesterday."

Just as he said that, a rope was tossed down, and my brother leaped over the edge, and slid gracefully down to the floor.

"Stupid freaking show off…" I muttered under my breath, and ignored the strange look Fury gave me. Clint walked over to us, his eyes widening when he saw me standing next to the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., but quickly recovered.

"Director," He nodded, before turning to me. "Samantha."

His eyes bore into my own, and I glared at him until he looked away. Even then, I couldn't stop myself from glaring.

"What do you think is happening, Agent?" Fury asked Clint. My brother shook his head slightly, before answering him.

"Well, you said that it's been emitting a strange energy, right? I think that someone has been tampering with the energy, from the other side." He said, looking the Tesseract up and down, trying to see if it would help with anything.

"The other side?"

"Well, the Tesseract is a doorway to outer space, right?"

I caught up to what he was saying, and didn't care if I didn't get along with him right now, this was beyond just a simple sibling feud.

"It's open on both sides…" I spoke, in awe. That meant that—

Suddenly, the Tesseract began emitting a strange glow, and the whole room began to shake. I unknowingly stepped closer to Clint, seeking comfort. Then, a light shot up and out of the Tesseract, and onto a platform.

I jolted, and my hand shot out to grab a hold of Clint's. I held onto him tightly, and cowered behind him.

I was mesmerized by the strange light, and I began to make out a shape. It looked sort of like… no, it _couldn't_ be. I started walking forward, still hypnotized. Clint pulled me back, and pushed me behind him roughly.

And then, the light was gone, and I could clearly see a man kneeling with staff of some sort in his hands. I couldn't see his face, but I saw him take many deep breaths before standing, and turning.

I gasped loudly.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the man, was his undeniable looks. It took my breath away, his handsome features that were turned up into a smile. I had never seen another man that looked like that. His smile was the second thing that caught my eye, as it gave a twist to my stomach. He was beautiful, but everything about him screamed out '_danger'_.

"Sir, put the staff down!" An agent to my left shouted out. I sucked in a breath, already knowing what was going to happen next. I tensed as he smiled to himself, and threw out his arm, the staff sending out a burst of light that immediately destroyed the man who had shouted. My face went white as I watched, and Clint took my face gently in his hands. He shook me, trying to get my attention.

"Samantha, listen to me. I want you to take this," He put a gun in my hands, and they sank down from the weight. I knew how to fire a gun, as Clint had taught me long ago, but I didn't see how I could be much help in this particular fight. "And only use it if you _have_ to. Go with Fury, and please; _stay safe_."

He pulled out a gun of his own, and started firing at the man, who had now successfully killed about three fourths of the agents in the room.

"Clint!" I yelled, and he looked back at me. My lips trembled, and I my voice wavered as I spoke.

"_I love you_."

I had not spoken those words aloud since I was little, and now it just seemed like an appropriate time to get it over with. Clint frowned, and was about to say something back when the man who did all of this shot his staff at him, causing him to jump out of the way.

I held the gun in one hand, and rushed over to Fury, who was silently putting the Tesseract into a case, trying not to draw any attention to himself. I knelt by him, keeping my gun trained on the man in case he saw us.

Soon enough, everyone was down, including my brother. I could see him breathing, so I knew that he was okay, just down for a second. I watched as he stood up, and faced off with the God-like man.

"Clint…" I whispered, worried out of my mind. Clint didn't have time to use his gun, so he resorted to sending out a punch that should have knocked the man off of his feet. I stared in awe as he simply caught my brother's wrist, blocking the blow easily.

"You have heart."

I could hear him say, before he raised his staff to my brother's chest. My eyes widened, and I could feel myself start to scream before Fury muffled it under his hand. But, instead of shooting at him, a shudder seemed to go through Clint, and he placed the gun that he had grabbed back in its holster.

What had just happened? Wait! How did that just happen? Why wasn't my brother fighting back? I know my brother, and he wouldn't give up this easily! The man must have somehow done something to him, but I-. My thoughts were cut off as Fury grabbed my wrist, and began silently pulling us away, hoping that the man wouldn't notice.

He did.

"I wouldn't advise that," He turned to us, and smiled. I looked over at Fury, and saw him carrying the Tesseract in a case. The man's eyes locked onto my own, and I felt a surge of hatred go through my body. This man, this _horrible_ man, had killed at least _fifteen_ agents, and had done something to my brother. No body _touches_ my brother.

"You see, I still need that." He pointed to the case in Fury's hands. I looked at my surroundings, trying to think of anything that might help. When my eyes caught sight of the portal, my eyes flew open. It was going to collapse on itself. Was _that_ Fury's plan? To kill everyone to ensure that this guy doesn't get his hands on the Tesseract? I would normally protest, but seeing the man's strange powers, I knew that the whole world could be destroyed if it landed in his hands.

"Who are you?" I stalled, trying to do anything to keep the conversation going. I glanced over at my brother, and saw him standing next to the man, with his hand behind his back. I winced, but turned back around.

"Who am I?" He asked, smiling widely now. He was obviously enjoying this.

"I am Loki, of Asgard."

Loki? Asgard? Like, from the _myths_? This couldn't be true! But as I stared at the bodies of the dead agents around us, people I had _worked_ with, I knew that he was telling the truth. I was face to face with a real _God_ right now and somehow _still alive_. I wasn't about to change that. I could sense that Loki craved attention from the way he had smiled when I asked him who he was, so I tried to keep going on that aspect.

"_The_ Loki? From the legends?" I tried to sound in awe, when in reality I wanted to bring up my gun and shoot him as many times as I could in his pretty little face. Loki smiled slyly, and looked down lovingly at his staff, before back up at me.

"Yes."

I tried to keep going, but director Fury beat me to it.

"We have no quarrel with your people, Loki," He said, trying to calm Loki down.

Loki merely chuckled, and held out his hands.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

My eyebrows shot up, and I lowered my gun slightly.

"So, you're going to _smash_ us?" I asked. Loki let out a small laugh, before his face turned serious.

"I mean to _free_ you," He said. My eyebrows rose even higher, and I shook my head, and held out my own arms.

"From what?" This I had to hear. Loki smiled once again.

"From _freedom_," He walked to his left a little bit, before continuing with his speech. "Freedom is life's biggest lie, and the when you understand that, you will know _peace_."

Okay, this guy was absolutely, 100% _out of his god-damned mind_. What was he thinking? Clint stepped forward, and inspected the portal above us.

"Sir, director Fury and Barton are stalling. The portal could close in on itself any moment now," He turned back to Loki. "They mean to bury us."

It hurt so much to see him like this, to know that that wasn't my brother standing in front of me, that it was some twisted form of Clint, one that had no recollection of his past self. Clint wouldn't do this, but I had to get that out of my mind.

This wasn't Clint.

"And you better _damn_ well know it." I hissed. Clint raised his gun and shot Fury, sending him flying backwards. I brought up my gun, pointing it at my brother, but he was too quick. With no hesitation whatsoever, he shot at me.

I thought I was going to die in that second, but somehow; fate had a different decision for me.

He shot my left forearm.

It wasn't deadly at all, but I was still taken down from the force of the blow. I looked up as Clint took a hold of the Tesseract, and walked beside Loki, headed for the door.

I quickly tore off a strip of cloth from my shirt, and wrapped it gingerly around my wound, which hurt so much I was beginning to cry. Bolting up from my position, I grabbed my gun and sprinted after my brother. I couldn't let him get away with the Tesseract, I _couldn't_.

I saw them just as they were getting into the car, ready to drive away. Maria was by my side, weapon ready to fire. I brought my own gun up, and pointed it at Clint, who had shot off a couple of rounds at me. I pulled the trigger more times than I could count, but soon enough, they were riding away in a car.

I launched myself at the car Maria had gotten in, and crossed my fingers as we drove after them. We used a short cut, and got in front of them. Maria turned the car around so that we were facing them, our bumpers grinding together as they pushed us forward. I shot through the glass, trying to hit anyone I could, not caring that it was my brother in front of me. He had the Tesseract, and that was all that mattered to me.

I managed to shoot the agent in the seat next to my brother, before they tossed us aside. Maria put the car in drive, and raced after them.

At that moment, the portal had decided to close in on itself. I could hear the entire facility falling in, and we tried to go as fast as we could. Before we caught up to them, however, a rock fell in front of our car, nearly crushing it.

My head snapped forward, but I immediately threw myself out of the car, running after the Tesseract. My forehead was bleeding, but I didn't care, as I _needed_ to get that cube back. I ran until I was out of breath, and staggering along, but saw the helicopter go down right in front of me. I gasped for air, and stumbled over to Fury, who was standing and firing shots at the car that was currently driving away from us.

I collapsed on my knees, and took short, ragged breaths. This couldn't be happening, this _couldn't _be happening!

My brother was _gone_, and now the Tesseract was in the enemies hands. I sighed, and let a tear slip past my façade. Fury didn't seem to mind, and he spoke into his communicator.

"The Tesseract is with the hostiles."

His words were grim, and I continued to cry.

"As of right now," He paused, before sending a look down at me. "We are at war."

That was it! What were we going to do now? It seemed like all of my hope was gone the second they took Clint away from me. If Clint hadn't been taken, I'm sure he would have been able to stop this. He always seems to do _everything_ right.

I laughed grimly to myself. Hadn't I been the one who wished never to see Clint again? Maybe this was my fault.

"What do we do?" A voice crackled on the other line, and I recognized it as Phil Coulson's. I looked up at the director, as he tried to think of what to say. Then, he lowered his communicator, and closed his eyes, successfully destroying any hope I had.

After a while, he turned to me and held out a hand to help me off of my knees, which I gratefully took. I swiped off the dirt from my jeans, and rubbed the tears from my eyes. Director Fury looked over at me, and sighed.

"Miss Barton, how would you feel about being a part of one of the world's most secret missions?" He asked.

"I would be honored, Sir." I responded immediately. I stared eagerly back at him, wondering what it was he wanted me to do. He nodded at me, and then looked back up at the sky.

"Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D., _Agent_ Barton."

**!#$%^**

**A/N: Hey guys! So this chapter has a lot more action in it, and a lot more Loki, as well. Of course, we don't get to see a lot of his good side in this chapter, but it's Loki none the less. So, tell me what you guys think, and **please**leave it in a review. It would make me soooo happy if everyone who read this reviewed! Think of it as a little favor. Thanks, guys!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey there. Just want to thank all of the reviewers once again, you have no idea how much it makes me happy to get those emails! So, anyways, last time we had a little bit of Loki, even though he was killing everyone the entire time. Hope that made you guys happy. Anyways, here's the third chapter of Complicated!**

**!#$%^**

I stood there opened mouthed, before I began laughing. Isn't this what I wanted? What I had been waiting for every day of my miserable life? And now it was happening, and all I wanted was for everything to go back to the way they were before all of this. I wanted Clint to come back and start controlling my life again, I wanted to go back to getting people coffee!

But I knew that that would never happen.

"Thank you, director Fury." I nodded back at him, before sighing, and getting into the vehicle that had come around to pick us up, and tried settling into the comfortable leather seats.

"You might need this." He handed something to me. It was a leg holster with a very advanced looking gun. I smiled slightly to myself, and attached the holster to my leg, placing the gun gently inside. I leaned back into my seat, and shook my head.

I didn't know where we were going, and I didn't know what was going to come next. Hell, I didn't even know if this would change anything for me, and I'd still be stuck getting people coffee. But I knew that I would have to be ready to face the unknown, no matter what.

The car took off and kept driving for a couple of hours. After that, director Fury and I switched to a helicopter, and it took us somewhere over water. I soon found out that we were going to a massive ship, apparently the true headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I stumbled out of the helicopter, glad to finally be on land. I haven't ever particularly liked flying objects, for reasons of my own. I followed Fury inside, and he took me to the control room, where people were working on computers frantically, and people were running around, trying to get somewhere.

"Director? What happens now?" I asked him. He turned to me, and held out a cell phone. I took it, and wondered what on earth he wanted me to do with it.

"Call the only number programmed into it. Tell the man on the phone that we know he's on third floor, and we have an attack jet waiting, with people surrounding his building. Then convince Agent Romanoff that she needs to come in." And with that he walked off, leaving me alone in skinny jeans and a T-shirt, a gun on my leg and an open cellphone in my hand.

I sighed, and knew that it had to be done. I looked through the phone, and called the number. After the first couple of rings, a Russian man answered the phone.

"Da?"

I smirked.

"Put Romanoff on the phone."

There was some hesitation before the phone landed in another man's hands.

"Listen to me, we ha-"

"No, listen to _me_. We know where you are. We have an attack jet waiting only eight blocks away, and our people are surrounding the building. Try anything, and we'll blow the place sky high before you have a chance to make the lobby. Put Agent Romanoff on the phone."

There was some rustling, before a female voice finally made it to the phone.

"Yeah?"

I sighed.

"Hey Tasha, it's Sam. Listen, something's happened and you need to come in immediately."

"You can't pull me out of my interrogation! And since when did you become authorized to pull me out?" She asked. I sighed again.

"Since I officially became an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Listen, a lot has happened and you _really_ need to come in," If only she knew what had happened.

"Look, congrats on the whole Agent thing, but this moron is giving me _everything_, and I'm not about to-"

"Natasha, something bad had happened. It involves Clint. My brother, he's… he's been _compromised_." I knew that this would be the way to get her attention, because of how close the two of them were. There was a long silence before she spoke again.

"Let me put you on hold."

I heard the phone clatter to the ground, and the sounds of Natasha beating the crap out of the poor men she was interrogating. I could tell that she was winning, as the people really were no match for her skills. She picked up the phone and spoke again.

"Where's Clint now?" She asked, and I could easily tell that she was trying to hide her fear.

"We don't know, but he has the Tesseract."

She was silent the entire time I filled her in on what had happened, as I told her all about Loki and how he had taken over Clint and Selvig's minds. Eventually, Phil Coulson took over for me, and filled her in on the details I didn't know. He was talking about getting people together, and said that Natasha got the 'big one'. I tuned out after that, my exhaustion taking over.

I was nearly asleep standing up when Coulson shook my shoulder, forcing me out of it. I sighed, and nodded at him.

"Sir?" I spoke, trying to sound respectful while _not_ falling asleep. Phil smiled slightly, and pointed to my wound on my shoulder, which had soaked through and was now dripping blood. I winced, and only then started to feel the pain.

"Why don't you get that looked at?" He suggested. I nodded, and went with the medic, who tended to my wounds. The bullet had gone straight through, thank God, so they didn't have to pry into my arm to pull it out. They simply put some medication on it and put on a bandage that I was supposed to change every twelve hours.

They gave me some meds to help me sleep, and I nearly collapsed when they showed me to my room. I fell asleep easily, with my gun still attached to my leg.

**!#$%^**

I woke up the next morning to see Maria Hill standing above me. I groaned, and sat up, trying to ignore the pain radiating throughout my body. I looked over at the clock beside my bed, and thanked my lucky stars that they had let me sleep in. And they let me sleep in pretty late too, as it was almost noon.

"What's up, Agent Hill?" I asked sleepily. Then, I realized what I had said, and apologized for my rudeness.

"It's fine, Agent Barton. If you would get dressed and meet me in the control room, please." She walked out of my room, leaving me alone to fully wake up. I sighed, and got out of my bed. The beds here were much more comfortable than in the old facility, and for that I was grateful. I opened the closet, and found that they had given me some shirts to match my old ones. I opened my drawers to find out that they had also given me some skinny jeans.

I laughed; they knew me all too well.

I put on the clothes, and reattached my gun and holster to my leg. Running a brush through my hair quickly, I rushed out of the room and to the place I had been yesterday.

When I had gotten there, director Fury was there with a man that I easily recognized as Tony Stark. Who didn't know Stark? When he admitted to being Iron Man all that time ago, he was constantly on the news. I didn't like him from what the news had reported on him before that, though. Before he was known as Iron Man, he was also known as a pompous prick among everyone. But when he became Iron Man, he was suddenly heroic, brave, and handsome.

And he _was_ handsome; I'll give him that. Though he was probably more than ten years older than me, and was dating his assistant, Pepper Potts. I walked towards them, and nodded at Fury.

"Director Fury."

He turned away from Stark to face me, and nodded back.

"Ah, Agent Barton, there you are." He said. Tony's face changed immediately upon hearing my name, and turned to one of some sort of twisted interest.

"Agent _Barton_, as in _Clint_ Barton's sister, I'm guessing?" He looked me up and down, and ignored the warning glare I was giving him. "So, your brother was the one who was turned into a mindless slave by that Loki guy's staff, right?"

I waited for my vision to return to its normal color before I answered him.

"Your assumptions are correct," I smiled up at him. "Pardon me if I'm wrong, but you must be Tony Stark, the arrogant asshole who thinks he's better than everyone else." My voice told him just how I felt about him bringing up my brother's condition. Stark just smirked, and walked even close to me.

"Ah, but I believe you missed something. It's Tony Stark: _genius_ arrogant asshole." He corrected me. Despite him bringing up my brother, I couldn't help but start to like this guy.

"Yeah? Well then, Mr. Genius Asshole, let me introduce myself. My name is Samantha Barton, and it is a pleasure to meet you." I smiled, and held out a hand to him. He smirked back at me, and gladly took it.

"Why, the pleasure is all mine, Miss Barton."

We smiled at each other for a few seconds, before I turned back to Fury.

"Sir? You wanted me?" I asked, not sure what he had asked me to come here for. Fury nodded at me, and clasped his hands behind his back.

"I just wanted you to meet who you'll be working with. Captain Steve Rodgers and Mr. Bruce Banner should be joining us shortly." He spoke. My eyes immediately widened. I didn't know anything about what Fury had planned, other than to bring certain people in to find the cube. I didn't know that he was bringing in _the _Captain Rodgers, and _the_ Bruce Banner! I had thought that they would bring in scientists, not people who had that much power! I was in awe.

I quickly got over my shock, and took a deep breath.

"Thank you Sir." I nodded at him, and turned to sit in one of the chairs at the table. Tony followed suit, and sat to my left. We sat in silence as Fury walked away, but the second he was out of earshot, Tony jumped up and started asking questions.

"So…" He began. I tilted my head at him, and motioned for him to continue his question. "I was just wondering… why exactly are you _here_? I mean, no offense, but you don't look like you have anything… special going on with you. Wait, _do_ you?"

I rolled my eyes, and stared down at my hands in my lap.

"Let's see, special abilities... Well, how about my magical powers of simply being awesome? Does that count?" I smirked at him, and he let out a small chuckle.

"If you were actually awesome, then yes." He teased. He sighed, and leaned back into his chair. "As for me, I don't even have to say how awesome I am. My aura of awesomeness speaks for itself."

"I don't think that that's awesomeness you're talking about…"

"Why don't you just stop ruining to moment for me? It's exhausting!"

"You mean you want me to shut up?"

"Yes, I believe that would be the simple term for it."

"Oh, _no_. This is far too much fun."

"Oh, I can see it'll be such a _joy_ working with you, Agent Barton…"

**!#$%^**

**A/N: Hey, so this is a short one, but I wanted to get something out there. Samantha meets Tony in this chapter, and that's all that really happens, I guess. Stay tuned for the next one, and I'll try to make it a little more exciting to read :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys, thanks for all the reviews! It makes me happy to see that people are enjoying my story! I'll try to get to Loki as quick as I can without damaging the storyline. Then we can start developing Samantha and Loki's relationship, which should be fun :)**

**!#$%^**

After a little more teasing, Tony finally retired to his quarters to do something nerdy, I guess. That guy may be arrogant, and sometimes a huge jerk, but he sure knew his stuff, and as much as I hated to admit it, the guy really was a genius.

I sat at the table for an hour, waiting for our two guests to get here. After that hour had passed, I gave up and went back to my room. They would send somebody for me when they arrived, so there was no point in me just waiting around. I walked back to my room, and sat in the chair at the computer desk they had given me.

I sat there, in front of the computer, not knowing what to do. I knew that I'd probably be waiting for a while, so I decided to wander around a little bit, and try to get to know this place better. I'd had known the old facility like the back of my hand, but this one was still a mystery.

I started off from my room, and mentally mapped my way to the cafeteria, as I know that I'd spend a lot of my time there. I may be little, but I could eat my weight in food. I'd always been like that, and I remember that I used to have wing eating contests with the Agents back at the old place.

I frowned, and sighed.

Despite all of the bad times I had had at the old S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, I had also had a lot of good times, and was only just realizing it now.

Why did it always have to be like that? You never knew what you had right in front of you until it was taken away. I should have been _grateful_ for what I had had, and instead I mocked the people who had taken me in every chance I got, and was disrespectful to every person I had met, including my brother.

I didn't even want to get _started_ on my brother. There were so many things that I did that I regret now, so many things that I wish I could take back. And quite honestly, now that I thought about it; I actually _agreed_ with him. I _hadn't_ been ready for that job. I was brash, reckless, and always ready for a fight. I would have gotten myself or someone else killed within the first hour of the mission.

That was the thing about me, was that I was so _eager_ for action, that I forgot everything my brother had taught me when I was younger.

I would have disappointed him, and that would have killed me as surely as any bullet.

I shook my head, and continued walking through the many hallways. I tried several doors along the way, though most of them were locked. Eh, it was worth a shot. S.H.I.E.L.D. had their right to keep secrets, along with the rest of the human population.

After a while of roaming around, I realized that I was supposed to be mapping this in my head while I walked.

Oops.

I scratched at my head, and tried to remember which way was which. I started picking random hallways, and always ended up back in the same spot I was in when I had started trying to find a way out.

I was walking along; trying to figure out which way my room was, when a girl only a little older than myself caught sight of me wandering around. She sighed in relief, and rushed over to where I was standing.

"Agent Barton! Director Fury has been looking for you for over an hour!" She said, and I raised my eyebrows at her words. I had been wandering around for over an hour? It didn't seem that long while I was walking, but now that I thought about it, I knew that I had been wandering around for much longer than I should have, and I _still_ didn't know where I was.

"Right!" I nodded. She began to walk away, but I called her back. "Umm, could you possibly show me the way to director Fury?" I asked, hoping that someone on this ship knew where they were going. The girl nodded, and started walking in a different direction. I smiled to myself, and started following her.

It took no longer than five minutes to get to the room I had been in before, but when I got there, all eyes were immediately trained on me. Tony was there, as well as director Fury and two other men I recognized only from pictures.

There, actually in _front_ of me, was Captain Steve Rodgers and Dr. Bruce Banner. I stared in awe, but quickly tried to recover.

"Ah, if it isn't S.H.I.E.L.D.'s little princess!" Tony smirked, causing me to glare at him. He ignored me, and began talking again, introducing me to the two people sitting down.

"Sammie darling, meet Captain I-Take-My-Job-Too-Seriously and Dr. I-Turn-Into-A-Giant-Green-Monster," He smiled brightly.

I rolled my eyes at his words, and walked over to where they were sitting.

"Captain Steve Rodgers I presume? My name is Samantha Barton, and it's a pleasure meeting you," I held out a hand to him, and he shook it, looking a little bit shy.

"The pleasure is all mine, ma'am." He said, giving me a nod of the head. Tony frowned, and pointed his pen at Steve accusingly.

"That's _my_ line,"

We ignored him, and I turned to Dr. Banner, holding out my hand. Tony stood straight up, and glared at Steve.

"You sneaky… _line stealer_!"

I rolled my eyes once again, and smiled as Bruce shook my hand.

"It's good meeting you, Dr. Banner," I said, and the Dr. merely nodded, giving me a small smile. I sighed, and turned to Tony, who still look distressed over the fact that Captain Rodgers had 'stolen his line'.

"Oh, _Tony_. Still here? I thought you'd get yourself kicked out by now." I smirked, and sat down in one of the seats beside Steve. He shook his head, smiled at me, and folded his hands behind his back.

"I know, it surprised me too. Ah, well, I suppose they simply love me too much to let me go,"

"More like they don't have anyone else to bring in…"

"Again with ruining my moment!"

I laughed, and leaned back in my seat. If this was how things were going to be from now on, I think that I could get used to it.

_If only Clint could be here_.

I frowned, but shook my head. This was not the time, nor the place to break down and cry like a little five year old. Don't do it, Samantha. I blinked my eyes rapidly, and held back the tears.

"So, what did I miss?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Tony snapped out of his make-fun-of-everyone phase, and went full out professional. He started pacing, and rubbed at his chin. I held back a laugh; he looked so... _serious_. It was a weird look for him.

"We were _saying_ that Loki would need something to support his portal the next time he creates one, to keep it from collapsing in on itself, like it did before. He's going to have to get something specific, and if he gets it, he'll be able to open a portal from anywhere with a sufficient power source. Fury has his men using any camera source to try and find Loki or Barton so that if any cellphones, hand held cameras, or security cameras get a peek at either of them, we'll have them. And mark my words, _we'll find them_. As for locating the cube, we have lots of fancy things searching for any gamma radiation that is close to that of the Tesseract. We have it covered." He finished, looking satisfied with his answer.

I sighed, and nodded.

"Alright then, what do we do now?" I asked, ready to do something to help out. Dr. Banner answered for Tony.

"Nothing, for now. Stark and I have the cube covered, and Fury's computers have Loki and Barton. For now, all we can do is wait." He said.

I slumped back, distressed with his answer. How could this be possible?

"Are you _sure_?" I asked. Tony nodded.

"Everything's covered, sunshine,"

I stood up from my seat, and held my head in my hands. I was silent for a few seconds, before looking up at the three of them.

"So you're saying that I have to wait for some _computer_ to find my brother?" I asked, not really expecting a different answer. "I don't like this," I said, and walked towards the door. I turned back to them before I left the room, and shook my head.

"Let me know when you have some _real_ work for me…" I pivoted on my feet, and stalked off in the direction I thought my room was. I walked for a long time before I finally found it, and when I did, I sunk into my chair, exhausted out of my mind.

What would Clint think of me now? I was finally supposed to be doing something _good_, making a _difference_, and _saving the world_. But instead I was sitting on my ass while other people were doing all of the work for me. Would he be proud? Or would he be the one telling me I needed to get off my lazy bum and pitch in more? What would he _think_?

And what was he thinking when he _shot_ me? I know that he was under Loki's control, believe me I _know_, but he shot Nick Fury in the chest while he only shot me in the arm. I knew from experience that Clint could shoot anything, anywhere, at any distance. If he had wanted to kill me, I would be dead. But I was still alive, and I had no idea why.

I sighed, and got up, knowing that I should go do something useful. I walked around for a little while, before going up to the first person I saw.

"Do you know where Tony Stark is?" I asked. The man nodded, and pointed me in the right direction. I ended up asking a few more people before I finally found the lab that he was working in, and walked through the door, not bothering to knock.

I found Tony deep in discussion with Dr. Banner, and he was so into his conversation that he didn't notice my entrance. I leaned against the doorframe while he chatted about the Tesseract and different ways to speed up the process of finding it.

"So, if we change the diameter of the…" He trailed off, and only just then realized that I was standing there. He smiled, and motioned for me to come in.

"Hey there, Princess, come in! Bruce and I were just talking about gamma radiation and such. Your little brain probably wouldn't be able to comprehend half of it, so I'll save you the trouble and just skip it,"

I punched his shoulder playfully, but accidentally hit him harder than I had planned, and he winced.

"Calm yourself Princess, it was a joke…"

"Oops," I giggled, but didn't feel bad about it at all.

He rubbed his arm and rolled his eyes at me, before turning back to his work. I walked over to a wall and leaned up against it, thinking to myself. I had been thinking for a long time, probably at least thirty minutes, before Tony made his way over to me, and stood beside me.

"Hey, sunshine," He said, smiling at me. I smiled back, before sighing and closing my eyes.

"You doing alright?" He asked. I knew that he meant well, and truly wanted to know how I was doing. I opened my eyes, and looked up at him.

"Have you ever done so many things in your life that you thought was right at that particular time, and then suddenly, you're stuck questioning everything you believed in?" I asked.

Tony was silent for a long time, before he answered.

"A while ago, I was the leader in weapons manufacturing. I made weapons, and it was as simple as that. Then I went to Afghanistan to do a presentation of a new weapon, the Jericho. I thought nothing of it, and it was just another weapon that I needed to sell. Then everything changed. I saw the very weapons I had created, used against the people they were meant to _protect_. I was kidnapped, and they tried to force me to make the Jericho. I escaped, but nothing was ever the same again. I knew that I couldn't continue to create these weapons of mass destruction, as I believed they caused more chaos then they did peace," He paused, and I listened intently.

I had forgotten how much he had gone through, and immediately felt sorry for him. I had forgotten just how much he knew how I felt.

"So yes; I know how you feel." He looked down at me, and gave me a half-hearted smile. I sighed, and nodded at him.

"Okay," I pulled myself off of the wall, and started heading for the exit.

"But you're still an old geezer…"

I heard him chuckle softly as I walked out of the room.

**!#$%^**

**A/N: Hey there! Another short chapter, but I still wanted to get something out there. The next chapter should definitely be more exciting, and we will get to see Loki again, and Sam's first real interaction with him. We also get to see Thor, which should be interesting to write. Anyways, please leave your thoughts in a review! Love you guys!**

**- Sara**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for your input on the last chapter; it means a lot to know that you guys are still reading this! In this chapter we get to see more of Loki, and that's always fun! After this chapter, there will be a **_**lot**_** more of Loki, believe me. Anyways, here it is!**

**!#$%^**

The rest of the day passed by quickly, with most of it spent next to the computer that was trying to find Clint. When it was one in the morning and there was still no result, Maria Hill ordered me to go to sleep. I was too tired to resist, so I went back to my room and fell asleep quickly.

The next morning came sooner than I had wanted it to, and I winced at the sound of my phone's alarm waking me up at five. I sighed, and got up, getting dressed and leaving for the computer once again. I had spent so much time beside that computer, it was honestly exhausting. I was sick of sitting by a computer, but I wanted to be there when they found him. If they found him…

I made my way to the control room, saying quick hellos to the people I had grown to know over the past couple of days, before taking my seat in front of the computer once again.

I had been sitting there for about an hour and a half already when I felt a presence behind me. I swiveled the chair around, and saw Steve standing there with a confused look on his face. He brought up a chair, and sat down beside me.

"Captain?" I asked. Steve shook his head at me.

"Steve. Call me Steve," He said, and I nodded at him. I shot him a questioning look, to which he responded hesitantly.

"You're name is Barton, am I correct? That means that _Clint_ Barton must be your…" He trailed off, wanting me to fill in the rest. I gave him a brief smile.

"Clint's my older brother," I said. Steve nodded, thinking to himself. He looked over at the computer, noting its lack of progress in finding Clint.

"You must love your brother very much. You did not leave this computer's side until you were ordered to, and now it is this early in the morning, and you are here again. I take it you and your brother were close?"

I winced, before taking a huge gulp of the coffee someone had brought for me a while ago. I sighed, and tried to find a way to explain it.

"The saddest part it that we weren't close at all. It was sort of the opposite, really. I never understood why my brother always seemed to step in and ruin my life, so I started to hate him, and acted out because of it. But now, as I think about it, everything he did was only because he cared about me. And what can I do now? I may never see my brother again; I may never get to tell him that I understand now. That I'm sorry for everything I did to get back at him. I may never get the chance to tell him how much I love him…"

I was trying not to cry at this point, but my immediately eyes dried when I reminded myself that I had cried every day for the past few days, and I could _not_ cry anymore. I _couldn't_.

Steve placed a hand on my shoulder, and I looked over at him. He smiled softly, and took a deep breath in.

"I'm sure that your brother knew that you were just being young, and also knew that you loved him, despite everything," He said, and I took some comfort in his words.

"Thanks, Steve. But really, you're not that much older than I am. Besides the whole sleeping for seventy years thing, because if you count that then you're waaay older than me. But just for fun, let's not and just pretend that you and I are the same age. It gives me someone who I can relate to," I rambled, and Steve raised his eyebrows at me, and let out a chuckle.

"I'm much older than you, but if it will make you feel better, I'll be here for you if you need somebody to talk to," He said with a smile. I smiled back at him, grateful to have someone I could talk to that wouldn't make fun of me every chance they got. I knew that Tony knew when to take things seriously, but having Steve to talk to would be a nice change.

"Thank you, Steve." I said, before turning back to the computers. Steve and I made small talk for a while, before Fury asked to see him, so he left. I was fine with that, and simply watched the small screen as it loaded several programs that would help to find my brother.

After a few hours of sitting there, my recent lack of sleep had caught up to me, and I started falling asleep, my head beginning to lean forward. Suddenly, four words caught my attention, and I jerked awake.

"Sir, we found Loki."

I was out of my seat in an instant, and across the room to the computer that showed a video of Loki walking by a camera. I was once again struck by how handsome he was, but quickly shook myself out of it. How could I be even the slightest bit attracted to the man who had stolen my brother from me? It was immediately replaced by loathing. This was the man that had taken my brother!

"Where is he?" Fury asked. By now our whole group was there, and was surrounding the computer.

"An opera house in… Stuttgart, Germany," The technician said.

Germany? We could make it there in time, I _know_ that we could. I stood up straight, and looked around at everyone, holding out my hands.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Loki's not going to wait around for us to get there!" I said. It was only then that they jumped into action.

"I'll have a plane waiting in the hanger, meet me there when you guys are ready," Natasha spoke to the rest of the team, heading out of the room. I was too excited about finding Loki that I didn't bother to change out of my skinny jeans, knowing that I probably wouldn't be fighting anyways. That would be up to Steve and Tony to handle.

I started sprinting after Natasha, and soon caught up with her. We ran side by side, reaching an empty jet in no time.

"You ready for this?" I asked her. She sat in the pilot's seat, and turned around to face me with an overly concerned look.

"Are _you_ ready for this?" She asked. I frowned, not knowing what she meant. Of course I would be alright! I would be _more_ than alright, since this was my one opportunity to find out where Clint is. Once we had Loki, he would have to tell us where to find him, right?

"What do you mean?"

Natasha frowned at me as I sat in the co-pilots seat.

"I mean, if we get Loki you won't go all angry younger sibling on him, right?" She said. I huffed, and crossed my arms. I was about to say something, but quickly realized that it would be childish. I uncrossed my arms, and sighed, leaning back in the chair.

"I guess you're right. We won't get anything out of him if I start screaming at him like a banshee…" I admitted, seeing that my original plan wouldn't have worked as well as I had hoped. I shook my head, not liking this.

Natasha nodded at me, and I got up and sat in the seats towards the back, waiting for everyone else to get here. Once Steve was here and in his uniform, we took off, Tony right behind us in his suit. I made sure that my gun was loaded and ready to use if I had to, even though I knew that it was unlikely. The flight to Germany took shorter than I thought it would, and I was amazed at how fast these things could go.

When we had got there, I watched as Loki was about to kill an old man as a demonstration to the others kneeling before him. Steve got there just in time, and blocked the staff's blast with his shield. Loki looked surprised that someone stopped him, but simply smiled when he saw the jets hovering nearby.

"Loki, put the staff down and surrender. No one has to get hurt," Natasha spoke into the speakers. I scoffed.

"Like _that's_ going to happen!" I laughed, knowing that a man like Loki would never surrender unless his life depended on it. I was right, and Loki shot his staff at us. Natasha swerved the plane, and since I was standing up, I went flying backwards and landed on my bottom.

Groaning, I jumped back up and stared out of the window, wanting to see what was happening. Steve was fighting with Loki, and it seemed as though they were equally matched. They would each attack each other, never getting anywhere, before one of them would break the other's defenses. It was getting nowhere, and I was even going to step in when music suddenly began blaring from our plane's speaker. I smiled at the choice of music, and knew immediately who had come to the rescue.

Tony came flying in right at that moment, sending out a bolt of energy at Loki.

Loki was hit, and flew backwards into the ground. Tony stood next to Steve, and held out a hand to Loki, threatening him. I strained my neck to see, and only barely caught sight of Loki surrendering, changing out of his war form.

My anger flared up as they began bringing him aboard our jet. I was sitting close to the cockpit, and had a clear view of him as he walked into the vehicle.

Our eyes connected, and my heart seemed to freeze over with hatred. Tony put a hand on my shoulder, and I realized that I had unconsciously begun to stand. I sat back down with a huff, and tried to stop myself from cursing when Loki chose to sit in the seat _directly_ across from me. Of all the places he could have sat, of course he would choose to sit across from me.

Calm down, Samantha. I talked to myself, trying to calm myself down. He was just trying to mess with me. He was the God of Mischief and Lies, so of course he would try to get me riled up. He probably knew _exactly_ why I wanted so badly to murder him.

I continued glaring at him, and for some reason I couldn't seem to take my eyes off of his. My thoughts began wandering , and I somehow started thinking about how beautiful his eyes were. It's a shame I hated his guts, because otherwise I would definitely be swooning right now.

Loki had been smirking the whole time I was glaring at him, and only now did I say something.

"What's so _funny_ to you?" I asked, bewildered at how he could be so _happy_. Loki just tilted his head at me, his eyes shimmering with what seemed to be amusement.

"What's _not_ amusing about this situation?" He asked, leaning forward in his seat. I bit my lip as hard as I could, trying not to lose it on him.

"Why do you despise me so?"

_Deep breaths. Deep breaths. _

"Is it because of you brother?"

_Do not start beating up the God. Do not start beating up the God._

"You should not be angry. I have given him … new _purpose_ in life," He said.

That was when I lost it. I jumped up out of my seat, and launched myself at him.

"You _monster_! Where is my _brother_ you _as_-" I was about to hit him when a pair of strong metal arms wrapped around my waist. It was useless to fight against Tony, but I couldn't stop screaming obscenities at the man who had taken my brother away from me.

"Whoa there, sunshine! Screaming bloody murder at the crazy God will _not_ help us right now!" Tony still didn't let me go, as I was thrashing around. His words finally got to me, and I stopped struggling.

"There, there Princess. It's going to be alright." He set me down on my feet, and I winced at the newfound pain around my waist. There were going to be bruises, I could tell, but at that moment I didn't care.

I closed my eyes, and didn't know how I was going to be able to handle this. I had never hated someone more than I had hated Loki, but I knew that hating him wasn't going to change anything. I was sure that if it was me that Loki had taken over, Clint would have been able to control his anger. And if Clint could do it, I could too. I had to act my own age.

I could do this.

I turned back to Loki, and sat down across from him. I know that I should have probably sat far away from him this time, but I wanted to prove to him that I could control myself. I was not a child, and I would act like an adult.

I dared to look up at him, and saw that he was staring at me with curiosity in his eyes. I stared back, surprisingly calm after my blow out.

"Do I have something on my face?"

I asked, my voice calm and surprisingly peaceful. I found myself slowly cooling down, and realizing that there was really no reason to be angry at him. Sure, he took my brother, but he was going to pay for it in the end, and that's all that mattered to me.

Loki tilted his head at me, and I raised my eyebrows.

"You're staring." I said. Loki was unimpressed.

"Should I apologize?" He asked, and I was surprised to hear a trace of sarcasm in his voice. I smirked.

"No. I would expect someone like you to stoop as low as _apologizing_."

He nodded, agreeing with me. I found myself laughing at him. He truly believed himself to be above us. What a _dick_. He opened his mouth to say something to me, but a crash of thunder stopped him in his tracks.

His face fell, and it was almost as if he was _scared_. I narrowed my eyes, and questioned him on it.

"Scared of a little lightning?" I asked. A ghost of a smile crossed his lips, before he shook his head.

"I'm not _overly_ fond of what follows,"

Just as he finished speaking, something crashed into the top of our plane. My head smacked back and hit the edge of my chair, and I winced.

"What was _that_?" I asked, rubbing at my head. Loki's face was still screwed up with fear, and I was about to say something when Tony put on his head mask, opening up the back of the plane. He was walking forward when a man jumped onto the platform. His hair was long and blond, and he was wearing armor I could only guess meant he was a God as well. The hammer that he was carrying told me that he was most likely Thor, from what little I had read about Norse myths.

Tony was about to do something, when Thor threw his hammer at him, sending him flying backwards into Steve.

I wracked my brain, trying to think of why he would be here, in this plane. But before I could guess, Thor walked over to Loki and grabbed him by the collar. I jumped up and out of my seat, and was about to protest before he threw them both out of the plane. Well, I guess it had something to do with Loki.

"Oh _hell_ no." I looked to my left and found a parachute, throwing it over my shoulders.

"Sunshine, why don't you leave this one to me?" Tony suggested, but I was already sprinting out of the back. I leaped forward, and felt the rush of falling.

I realized as soon as I jumped out that I hadn't ever done this before. I had seen it in movies, but I was afraid that the movies might get me killed right now. Once I guessed that it was an appropriate time, I pulled the string, activating my parachute. I kept my eyes trained onto the place where Thor and Loki were now arguing.

As soon as my feet hit the floor I shrugged out of the parachute and took off running towards the small cliff the two boys were standing on. I arrived right in the heat of the moment, so I stayed hidden behind a large rock, and listened into their conversation. Thor was shouting at Loki, and I realized why he had been after Loki.

"We are _brothers_ Loki!" The God of Lightning tried to knock some sense into him

"We are _not_ brothers!" Loki was vivid, and he spat out the word brothers. Thor was visibly upset, and he walked over to where Loki had walked to.

"Maybe not in blood, Loki, but in _bond_. Don't you remember all of the times we laughed together, played together, _fought_ together?"

Loki whipped around, and glared at Thor.

"No. I remember a _shadow_. I remember being hidden in the shade of your greatness! I remember being there in the background as people fell at your feet, never once paying me any attention! All I had ever wanted was for y-" He cut himself off, and scoffed.

When I heard what Loki had said, I froze. Hidden in his brother's shadow. Now where had I heard _that_ before? I held back my gasp, and thought to all of the times I had been left in the dust, where I had been _forgotten_, all because I wasn't my brother. Because who would pay attention to me when there was Clint?

It was almost immediately that the feelings of hatred I held for Loki vanished, and instead, I _understood_ him. I could actually understand where he was coming from. I didn't understand why he wanted to take it out on the human race, but I could understand that feeling of abandonment, that feeling of simply knowing that you weren't ever going to be as good as your brother.

I had zoned out of the conversation, but just now tuned back in. Loki had just said something, and Thor was threatening him with his hammer.

"You listen carefully-" Thor was cut off by Tony ramming into him, sending him flying in the opposite direction.

"I'm listening." Loki said to himself. I slowly peaked around the corner of the rock, and saw Loki standing there, shaking his head at something.

"You humans think yourselves to be so stealthy," He said, noticing my presence. I came out from behind the rock, and watched as Loki sat down on the edge of the cliff, watching the battle between Thor and Tony.

I hesitated, before sitting down beside him.

We were silent for a long while, before Loki finally spoke.

"Why are you being civil to me now? Sitting here beside me? A few moments ago, you seemed fine with the idea of tearing me apart. What has changed?" He asked, genuinely curious as to why I had changed my mind. And to tell the truth, I hadn't really changed my mind; I still wanted to kill him for taking Clint, but the fact that he understood exactly what I had been going through my whole life was what drew me in.

I had never met another person like me, but with a brother like Hawkeye, nobody had ever been able to understand where I was coming from. Now Loki had Thor, who was nearly unmatchable.

We both didn't have any hope of outdoing our sibling.

I suppose that was why Loki was doing this; he was trying to outdo Thor in _something_, trying to be acknowledged by _someone_. I knew that his methods weren't the best, but for once, I could actually see _why_ he was doing this.

"Because I think that I understand now."

Loki's gaze connected with mine, and I felt my heart stop, but this time it wasn't out of hatred.

"How could a mortal like you ever understand a God like me?" He sounded angry, but tired at the same time. I sighed, and crossed my arms, the cold of the night just now getting to me.

"Maybe we aren't as different as we first thought, Loki…"

**!#$%^**

**A/N: Hey there! So we had a lot more Loki in this chapter, and there will be much more to come, I swear! There was little to no Thor however, but there will be more in the next chapter. Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, moving forward! Oh, and one of you guys were concerned that Sam would turn to Loki's side too easily, which will NOT happen! She may have changed her opinion on him, but he still took her brother, and is trying to enslave her kind. She still has her duty and her beliefs, and even if she **_**is**_** a little naïve and childish, she knows in her heart that she couldn't betray her own kind for a guy. Even if the guy IS Loki :D**

**!#$%^**

Loki turned his head to look at me.

"You mean to say that you and I are _alike_?" He asked. I rolled my eyes at him.

"That was the point, genius," I said with a hint of sarcasm. He was about to say something else when we both saw Tony flying back to where we were currently sitting. He landed a few feet to my right, and lifted his mask. His facial expression was a mixture of shock and confusion at seeing us sitting together, talking, instead of me trying to murder him.

"Well, it's nice to see that you haven't ripped his heart out, sunshine. But, I believe that it's time to go," Right as he said that, Steve and Thor appeared at his side, and our plane flew to where we were all standing. I sighed, and stood up, Loki following my movements.

We loaded Loki in the plane, sitting him in the seat he had sat in previously. Instead of sitting with him this time, I went up to the cockpit where everyone was either standing or sitting. Tony saw me walking towards them, and raised his eyebrow before giving a pointed glance at Loki. I sighed.

"_Later_." I mouthed, hoping that he would eventually forget and I wouldn't have to explain everything that had happened to him. I turned to our newest member, and held out my hand.

"You must be Thor. Pleasure meeting you, Blondie," I smiled brightly. Thor looked surprised at my casual greeting, but took my hand none the less. I would have never admitted it to anyone, but I think that he accidentally broke my hand when he grabbed a hold of it. I never knew that he was so strong, but then again, he _was_ a God after all. But Loki was a God, and he wasn't nearly as buff as Thor was. Hmmm…

"Well met, Miss…" He trailed off. I smiled at him, and shook my head at myself.

"Where are my manners? Samantha Barton, at your service," I nodded at him. I looked back over at Loki, and saw him eavesdropping on our conversation. I didn't mind too much, because I'd be doing the same exact thing if I were in his position. I excused myself, and made my way to the back of the plane, and sat across from Loki once again.

I yawned, and stretched out my arms, already getting tired. I leaned my head back, and tried to smack the sleepiness out of me. It was getting late, and spending all day in front of a computer could take a lot out of you. I tried to keep my eyes open, though, and stared at Loki. I had to figure him out, or else I would go crazy with curiosity.

All he wanted was for someone to _notice_ him, but why did he feel the need to enslave the human race? What would that accomplish for him? But then again, doing nothing would accomplish nothing as well.

And that's what I had been doing my whole life, _nothing_. Now believe me, I had tried my hardest to prove to everyone that I was worth more than just _coffee_, but it had never worked before now. I suppose I could see why Loki thought he had no other option, but it still didn't explain everything. Maybe I didn't understand him as well as I had thought.

"Do I have something on my face?" Loki suddenly asked, a trace of humor in his voice. I blinked rapidly, more than just a little confused. Loki smirked, and tilted his head to the side.

"You were staring." He said.

It was then that I got it; he was _mocking_ me. I rolled my eyes at his nerve, but didn't mind it too much. After all, _I_ had started it.

"You caught me," I said, leaning back into my seat, which was looking more and more comfortable by the second. I groaned, and shook my head, trying to rid myself of my sleepiness. I got up, leaving Loki in the back and heading towards the front, where everyone else was still sitting.

"What'd I miss?" I asked, my voice a little slurred. Tony took one look at me and sat me down in the seat next to him. My eyelids drooped, and my head rested against the cold metal of Tony's suit. Normally it would have been too hard of a surface for me to rest my head on, but this time I was so tired that I didn't care _what_ it was.

My eyes connected with Loki's for a brief second before I drifted off into a deep sleep.

**!#$%^**

I was shaken awake only an hour later by Tony, who told me that we were at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s home base, and that I should head off to bed. I sighed, and stretched out my arms. I was about to take his advice, but then saw Loki being led away by a dozen soldiers, Fury at the front.

I hopped out of my seat, and began walking with them to wherever they were taking him. I was wide awake now, energized by the small nap I had taken on the plane. They seemed to walk down many hallways that I had never been to, but somehow I managed to remember the way. I figured that this place would be important to be able to get to, what with Loki being there.

Once we got to the room, my eyes widened at the sight of the cell he was being put into. It was the size of a small room, and thick glass locked Loki inside. Fury motioned for the other soldiers to leave, but didn't say anything to me, so I assumed it meant that I could stay. Fury began speaking to Loki.

"Let's get this straight: you try to escape, you even _scratch_ that glass…." He pressed a number of buttons, and the floor below the cage opened up. The wind whipped through my hair, and it was hard to hear anything over the sounds of the wind.

"30,000 feet straight down," Fury said as he closed the door beneath the cell.

"_Ant_," He pointed to Loki. "_Boot_." He pointed back to the controls. I walked over to his side to get a better look at Loki, who was smiling by now.

"It's an impressive cage. Not meant, I think, for _me_," He pointed out. I nodded, knowing that he was right. But who was it for?

"It was meant for someone much stronger than you." Fury said.

_Oh_…

It suddenly came back to me, just who else was in our group. I had never thought of Bruce as the Hulk, as to me he was just Tony's nerdy scientist friend. We weren't that close, but we liked each other, and talked sometimes.

But this cage must have been made for him, if he turned into the Hulk.

"Oh, I've heard. A mindless beast who makes play he's still a man," He started, staring into the security camera outside of his cell. I knew that the others were watching him, and Loki knew it too.

"How desperate are you? That you call on such _lost_ creatures to defend yourselves?" He asked. Wait a minute, _I_ wasn't lost! How was _I_ lost? I was just a normal girl! Well, as normal as a girl could get while living with S.H.I.E.L.D. for her whole life. And as normal as I could get with Hawkeye being my brother.

Oh, yeah.

I guess I was kind of lost, wasn't I?

"How desperate am I?"

Fury walked closer to Loki, as close as he could with the glass being in the way.

"You threaten my _world_, you take a source of power that you can't _hope_ to control, and cause chaos and kill people because it's fun." He glared at Loki.

"You have made me _very _desperate."

At this point, I was like: _go_ Fury! But Loki just seemed amused at the situation.

"Oh, it _burns_ you to have come so close," Loki started on Fury, smiling. "To have come so close to that much power, and for _what_? A warm light for all of mankind? No, to have come that close, and then have _real_ power step in and show you how it's done."

Fury sighed, and walked away.

"Well, let me know if _real_ _power_ wants a magazine or something…" And with that, I was left alone in the room with Loki.

It was silent for a long time, and after a while I moved to sit down Indian style, facing Loki through the glass. Loki hesitated, but after a while, he mimicked me.

I stared at him for a few minutes, trying to figure out everything that was still a mystery to me, but his facial appearances didn't give me any answers; it just created a fluttering sensation in my stomach.

"So…" I began, not knowing any other way to start a conversation. Loki did his head tilting thing at me, and began talking so I that I wouldn't have to.

"Last time we spoke you said that you and I were alike somehow. What did you mean by that?" He asked. I sighed in relief, lucky that it was an easy question. My eyes never strayed from his as I answered.

"I would have thought that you would have guessed by now. But since you're a little slow, I'll save you the trouble and just tell you," I said. Loki smirked, but shifted his position to get more comfortable as he listened to me. I huffed, and began to tell him my story.

"When I was little, my mother and father died in a horrible car crash, leaving just me and my brother alone, with only each other. We went to the same orphanage, and he looked out for me there. He protected me from all of the bullies that were out to get me, that loved to pick on me every opportunity they got. I loved him more than it seemed possible, and it seemed like he loved me just the same. Then _S.H.I.E.L.D._ found him. I guess they saw some potential from his skill with a bow and arrow, and so they took him in. They only took _me_ because Clint said that he wouldn't go with them if they didn't. So S.H.I.E.L.D. took us out of the orphanage and gave us a home. Well, they gave _Clint_ a home.

He fit in immediately. I always knew that he was meant for something like that; he was always the loyal type, the type that would always have your back in any situation possible. Clint was taught martial arts, how to shoot a gun properly, and everything he would ever need to know to become one of their top Agents. Once Clint's training had started, he never really had the time to see me anymore, but he always managed to, despite everything. But then he started going out on missions, and I never saw him anymore. I wasn't allowed to contact him while he was on duty, and so we began to grow apart. We didn't see each other anymore, and there was no reason to talk when we _did_ see each other.

That was when I began to hate him. It was childish, really, but I couldn't help it. In my mind, _he_ was the reason I was in this mess, _he_ was the reason I was there fetching people their morning cup of coffee. I would rather be anywhere but there, and I would rather have any other brother besides him. But then it only got worse. I started training more vigorously with Natasha, and really developed my skills. I was good, and I _knew_ it. I could take almost anyone down, and I could shoot a gun better than most other trained Agents. I was ready for action; I was ready to _become_ someone.

But no one ever paid me any attention. In their minds I was _Hawkeye's_ sister, and why pay any attention to _me_ when there was my _brother_ to see? For years, I was left in his shadow, and I couldn't get out. I had to watch as people praised my brother's skills, and never thought to even _look_ at me. I was hidden in his shadow, and to them; I was a _nobody_,"

I sighed, and put my head in my hands, before looking up at Loki, who had a masked expression.

"So I think that I _understand_ what it feels like to have a brother who always seems to be better than you, who always gets the love and the praise while you have to sit back and be hidden in their shadow. I _understand_ you, Loki. But I just can't understand why you would do _this_," I said.

Loki looked down at his hands in his lap, and clenched them shut. He closed his eyes tightly, before shaking his head.

"No one else can ever understand us." He said softly, before looking back up at me, excruciating pain clear in his beautiful eyes. I smiled gently.

"But maybe they don't have to…"

I put my hand on the glass in front of me, and Loki looked down at it curiously.

I stayed like that for a long while, before he finally reached out his arm, and put his hand over mine. We were silent for a few moments, before he spoke, quickly taking his hand away from my own.

"I cannot tell you where your brother is, or where I have hidden the Tesseract. This changes _nothing_,"

I shook my head, and placed my hand back in my lap.

"I didn't expect it to."

**!#$%^**

**A/N: Hey people, so that was chapter six of Complicated, and I hope you enjoyed the Sam/Loki fluff I stuffed in there. Samantha's relationship with Loki will have a lot of mood swings, so sometimes it will be nice and sweet like this chapter, and other times she'll want to rip Loki apart like in the last one. Review, my little Loki lovers :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter! Tell me what you think :)**

**!#$%^**

I smiled at Loki, but then quickly looked away and frowned at the floor. What on earth was I getting myself into? How could I be so _nice_ to the person who took my brother? Wasn't I the one who was supposed to be going berserk on him, like I had back on the plane? Believe me, I was still more than angry about the fact he had taken Clint, but why was I being so _understanding_?

So what if we were both in the same position? That doesn't excuse his actions! I looked up at him, opening my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, but the second my eyes connected with his I couldn't do it.

There, deep inside his beautiful eyes, was an extreme amount of _pain_. I could see it clearly, and I knew that he had gone through too much. How could I be mad at someone who had already gone through enough? He had been through his fair share of hardships, I could tell simply by the expression on his handsome face.

I was staring again, so I quickly looked away.

"I should probably go…" I whispered softly, so quiet I didn't think he would be able to hear in through the glass, but he did. His head shot up, and we stared at each other for a long time, and I was immediately thinking of excuses I could make so that I could stay with him for a little longer, but I knew that it was time for me to go.

I stood up, and Loki did the same.

I turned to leave, and spoke over my shoulder, trying my hardest not to look back.

"Goodbye, Loki."

I walked out of the room, my heart pounding loud enough for everyone around me to hear it. I sighed, and kept walking, making my way to the control room. I was trying to find the rest of the team, and I knew that they would probably be at the table they seemed so fond of sitting at.

I walked into the room, but found that everyone had already left. Damn, I had spent too long talking to Loki, and had missed all of the important stuff. What kind of Agent was I?

I started making my way to Bruce's lab, knowing that that was where Tony was, and I knew that he could keep me up to speed on what was happening with everything.

On my way to the lab, I saw Steve heading in that same direction.

"Steve!" I called out. He turned, and caught sight of me, smiling instantly. He quickly walked over to my side, and nodded at me.

"Samantha," He greeted. I smiled up at him, as he was more than a foot taller than me. If my _brother_ was taller than me, you can imagine how small I must seem compared to _Captain_ _America_.

"How are you, Steve?" I asked him. I was curious to see how he was doing, since I haven't spoken with him for a while, and even when we did talk, it was all about me or my brother. Steve gave me a halfhearted smile, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Just concerned, I suppose. A man like Loki would never give up as easily as he did today. Something's not right, and I want to know what it is," He said, staring straight forward as we walked to the lab.

For some strange reason, my stomach twisted in on itself when he mentioned Loki. I took in what he had said, and let it register with my brain.

"You think he's up to something?" I asked, honestly wanting to know what he thought about Loki. What if he _was_ up to something? I mean, he _did_ give up a little too easily… but that could mean anything, really! Maybe he was regretting what he did, and that's why he allowed us to capture him. Maybe he doesn't want to be doing this anymore!

I shook my head, knowing that that was all just wishful thinking.

"He's supposed to be the God of Mischief and Lies, right?" Steve asked me. I nodded back at him, and he sighed.

"Then it's in his _nature_ to be up to something," He said. I knew that he was right, but part of me was wishing that Loki could be redeemed somehow. I didn't particularly want to see him get hurt, which surprised me. I was supposed to be the one wishing that he got crushed by a building or something, not hoping that he wouldn't have to get hurt.

"Well, I hope you're wrong, Steve," I said. I sighed, and then changed the subject. "So, did we find out what Loki's plan was?"

Steve nodded.

"Thor found out. Loki is planning on leading an army to enslave the human race, something called the Chitauri, I believe. And to do that he would have to open another portal. That's about all I know, since Stark and Dr. Banner started talking science. All we know is that Loki is up to something, and it's _not_ going to be very pleasant,"

I took all of this in, not believing that he was trying to lead an army against the earth. What did he plan to do if he actually won? There would be nothing to rule! Besides, humans would never stop fighting. And if we never stopped fighting, there would be none of us left for him to rule over! I didn't see any logic in Loki's plan. I didn't see any _sense _in it, which lead me to believe that he wasn't thinking straight when he made this decision.

All that was going through his mind was getting vengeance on his brother, and finally doing something that will get people's attention.

I couldn't stop the wave of pity that washed through my body at the thought.

I felt sorry for him, and wished that I could somehow fix it, even though I knew that I could not.

We reached the lab in record time, and saw Tony and Bruce working on finding the cube. Bruce was the first to look up, and when he saw us he waved us in.

"Hey guys," He said. It was then that Tony looked around, and the second his eyes connected with mine, I saw an emotion that rarely ever crossed his face.

Worry.

I walked in after Steve, and made my way over to Tony's side, now worried about _him_. Why was _he_ worried? Had something happened? Well, nothing could have happened, or else Bruce would have been grim as well. I put my hand on his shoulder, and stared up into his brown eyes.

"Is something wrong?" I asked him, whispering.

Tony looked away from me, and was silent for a second. Then, he finally looked at me and took my hand, leading me away from Steve and Bruce. Gritting his teeth, Tony stared down at me, his gaze boring into my own. He opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it quickly. He did it again, and it went on like this for a few minutes, before I finally stepped in.

"Well, go on. You have something to say to me, so say it," I said, knowing that this would be something that I wouldn't particularly like.

"Alright, Sammie darling," He took a deep breath and looked away before continuing. "I, well, sort of saw what went on in the cell room after Fury left. And let me say this now; _I don't like it_," Tony said.

I stared open mouthed at him, not believing that he had invaded my privacy.

"So you _spied_ on me?" I asked, getting angry at the fact that he had seen everything that happened between Loki and me, wanting that to remain private.

Tony looked back to me, no regret in his eyes.

"That doesn't _matter_, Samantha. What matters is that I don't want to see you get your heart broken," He said.

I took a step back, confused.

"My _heart_ broken? What are you _talking_ about?" I asked, completely unsure of where he was going with this. I had expected something along the lines of not getting too close to the prisoner, or a lecture about talking to evil men was not good. But talking about getting my _heart_ broken? I didn't know where he was going with this, and if I did, I didn't like it.

Tony sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.

"You." He looked at me, and then pointed off down the hall. "And Loki."

"It's never going to happen." He said.

My mouth was hanging open and my eyes were as wide as saucers as he spoke those words.

"Whoa! Whoa there!" I tried to cut him off, but he decided to keep on speaking.

"I'm saying this because I _care_ about you, Samantha. You and Loki will never have the opportunity to work out, as there is _no_ version of this where you two can be together. With him, there is _no happy ending_." He finished.

My face was beet red for some reason, and my mind was boggled. I was _so_ not expecting this when he looked worried. It could have been anything else _but_ this and I wouldn't be surprised. But _this_? I would have never thought of this in a million years, and I couldn't believe that Tony had thought of it when he saw Loki and me together.

"Listen, _Tony_. If you heard everything that happened between me and Loki, then you'll know that I can understand him, and he can understand me. That doesn't mean that we're going to run off into the sunset together, just because of _that_. Even if he is extremely good looking; _he took my brother_," I said, trying to knock some sense into him.

"And don't forget that he's trying to enslave the human race." Tony added. I rolled my eyes, and turned towards the door, but he grabbed my arm and stopped me from going anywhere. He turned me around, and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Sammie darling, I saw the way you talked to him, the way you smiled. I've never seen you act that way before," He let go of my shoulders.

"Just do me a favor, alright? Stay away from Loki."

I nodded at him, and then walked over to the door. Before I left, I turned back around.

"Thanks for watching out for me, Tony." I smiled softly at him, and then headed for my room.

I looked down at my watch as I walked down the hallways, my eyes straining to see the little numbers on the screen.

I winced when I saw that it was very early in the morning, and I would probably have to get up in less than two hours. I didn't even see the point in going to bed, but I knew that any sleep would do me good right now.

I rushed to my room, and got there right as the clock read 4:30, and was asleep by the time it got to 4:32.

My dreams were shot and pleasant, and I was surprised when I woke up at 9:00. Someone must have let me sleep in again.

I got up and stretched out my arms, before throwing on some clothes. I attached my gun to my leg and made my way out of the door, knowing where it was that I needed to go. I walked down the hallways, trying to remember where the room was, before finally making it to where I needed to be.

I walked into the room, making my way to my spot on the ground. I sat down, and watched as the man in front of me did the same.

"Hey, Loki," I greeted, his name seeming strange and foreign on my tongue. He looked at me, his green eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Samantha," He spoke my name, sending shivers down my spine.

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**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait, I had lots of homework to do before school lets out. But once school is over, I should be shooting out chapters like crazy. Tell me what you guys think :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you to the people that reviewed the last chapter, as I've been saying: it means a lot to me to hear back from you. After all, you are the people I am writing for. It's the only type of reward we writers get, to hear back from you about how we are doing. Anyways, sorry for the short last chapter, I'll try to make this one longer. Tell me what you think :)**

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I looked at him, trying to find out why I was here. It was a strange thing, that when I woke up I _knew_ that I needed to come and see him. It wasn't really an option for me _not_ to go and visit him. I thought about what Tony had said, about Loki and I never going to work out.

He was ridiculous, though, for this was _Loki_ that we were talking about! Sure, he was extremely good looking, and sure, we both _understood_ each other, but how could I feel anything like _that_ for him?

I tried searching through my feelings, but they were so jumbled up that I got nowhere with going through them. I sighed and looked back up at Loki, thinking back to the last time we had spoken. I realized that he knew almost everything about me, and yet I knew close to nothing about him.

"Will you tell me about yourself?" I asked, careful not to be too nosy. But it was only fair, since I told him my whole life's story, and he had barely said anything about himself.

Loki looked mildly surprised at my request, and tilted his head at me.

"Why would you want to know more about _me_?" He asked. I smiled, and sighed softly.

"You're a very interesting person, Loki," I said, meaning every word of what I said. He was more than interesting, as that didn't come close to how intriguing he was to me. I found myself wanting to know all about him, from when he was little, right up to when he came to earth.

Loki smirked at me, but nodded anyways.

"If that is what you wish. Although I do not believe that you will find my story very …. _uplifting_." He said. I shifted my position so I could become more comfortable, knowing that this could take a while. Loki swallowed hard before starting his story.

"In Asgard, we value strength, tenacity, and bravery in battle above everything else. As a child, I had none of those things. And when you grow up with Thor as your brother, it diminishes every good thing you were ever able to do. Every time I did something I could be proud of, they told me that _Thor_ could do better. They told me that I should try harder, when I was trying my absolute _hardest_. I tried so hard to be better than him, or at least to finally be as good as him at _something_. But I never seemed capable of outdoing my brother.

As soon as we were able to compete for the throne, we did, but every Asgardian was on his side, and not one of them saw what _I_ saw in my brother. He was an arrogant fool, not fit to rule Asgard, but no one else saw that. All they saw was a handsome blond man, the strongest warrior in all of the nine realms. He was a force to be reckoned with, I'll give him that, but he could not see sense in anything.

All he ever thought about was war, and any way to get tossed into a fight. I was shunned by Asgardians because I was the quiet one; I was the one who thought before I acted. But _I_ was the smarter one, _I_ was the one that should have been chosen for the throne, not _Thor_!

And so my hatred soon turned into a loathing, and I wanted to do anything to get Thor out of the way. I started plotting, and soon came up with several plans to get rid of him. I was finally going to prove to Father that I was better than him!" He spat.

Loki's eyes were bright with emotion, and he looked back into my eyes, waiting for a response. I sighed, and thought to myself before speaking. How should I put this?

"Loki, I _understand_ how it feels to be shunned because you aren't your brother. But getting rid of Thor wouldn't prove to anyone that you are the rightful King. In fact, it actually proves the opposite. If you wanted to prove to your father that you could be the right person for the throne, you'd have to actually prove that you had the qualities of a King. You would have to learn how to be patient, and kind, loving, and _humble_. I know that you can be those things, Loki, you'd just have to think." I said.

Loki looked down at the ground, staring at his hands in his lap for a long while.

"Perhaps you are right…" He said, a little reluctantly. But then he looked to his left, his eyes noticeably darker.

"But it was never to be, even if I was perfect for the throne," He said.

I looked up at him, confused.

"Why would you say that?" I asked.

Loki stared at me, sadness in his green eyes.

"Because I am no Asgardian," He said, and my eyes narrowed in confusion. What was he talking about? He was from Asgard, right?

"My true father is Laufey, King of the Frost Giants, and enemy of King Odin. Odin stole me from my home when he killed my father, hoping to keep me as a link between Asgard and the home of my people. He meant to use me as a tool to rebuild something that was broken beyond repair, and then to toss away after he needs me no longer," Loki said.

It pained me to see the way his eyes seemed to lose all of their life when he was talking about his true parentage, and how much it _hurt_ him. I was momentarily stunned, thinking about how big of a shock that must be to grow up with people who said that you were theirs, and then find out that none of it was true.

That your _whole life_ was a _lie_.

"Loki, you weren't just a tool. You have people who love and care about you, despite where you come from. Anyways, it doesn't matter who you were born as, it matters who you _become_. And Loki, I'm afraid you're going to become someone that you're not going to be proud of if you continue down this path." I said.

Loki didn't say anything, but just sat there staring at me. I smiled softly, and got an idea.

"Loki? Could I see you in your true form? You're Frost Giant form, I guess," I said. I wanted to see him as he truly was, not his illusion.

Loki immediately looked panicked, and started to protest.

"I don't think that would be a good idea. I-I might… scare you off…" He said. I was touched at the fact that he was scared to lose me, but also thought that it was funny to see him so worried.

"Loki, if I'm scared off, then I'm not a person worth having around. Besides, I will judge you on the person you are _inside_, not for what you look like on the _outside_," I said.

Loki looked hesitant, but eventually nodded, and changed forms in the blink of an eye.

What I saw in front of me made me want to weep. There was Loki, in his true form, looking just as handsome as he did in his illusion. My eyes wandered over his blue skin, trying to see as much of him as I could. My eyes eventually met his, and I was surprised to see that they were the same green color they were in his Asgardian form.

"_You're beautiful_…" I whispered, not remembering that he could hear me. In the blink of an eye, he was back in his regular form, sitting there _smirking_ at me.

"You really think I'm beautiful?" He asked, his smirk still in place.

My face grew red, and I stuttered. I took a deep breath, and hit my head against the glass of his cage several times.

"Yeah. I do," I admitted, before looking up at his face, which was still smirking. He chuckled to himself, and then shook his head. He stared at me for a long time, before dropping his smirk and frowned with a sudden realization.

"Well, I suppose that works out. I believe that you are one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever laid eyes on." He said, completely serious.

My face grew hot, and even more red, if that was possible. I stuttered a bit, before grinning up at him like a complete idiot. Loki smiled at me, but this time there was no trace of his smirk, just an honest to God _smile_.

We grinned at each other for a few seconds, before he shook his head and looked down at the ground. He stayed like that for a long time, until he finally glanced up at me.

"I find myself growing quite fond of you, Samantha Barton. Though I do not know why," He admitted.

It shocked me on how open he was, but that was a good thing, if he felt like he could tell me these things. And for some reason, I knew that I was more than fond of Loki.

I felt like without him, I would be _nothing_. Before I met Loki, I was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s little puppet, and everything about me belonged to _them_. But now that I have Loki, it's like he's given me new _purpose_.

I honestly felt like I could be myself around Loki, and the only other person I could feel that way with was Tony, which wasn't the same thing at all.

The fire in my heart seemed to have died long ago, when Clint stopped paying attention to me, but now it was back and brighter than ever. Being with Loki made me happier than I can describe in words, and somehow, I felt like Loki was a _part_ of me.

"Loki, I don't exactly know why, but I think I feel the same way." I said. He stared at me, trying to see if I was telling the truth. But I knew that I could never lie to him, even if I wanted to.

I was about to say something else, but footsteps made me look up.

It was Natasha.

I frowned, and stood up as she made her way over to me. She grabbed my arm roughly, and pulled me towards the door. I looked back as I was dragged out of the door, and saw Loki still sitting there, his eyes following me as I was taken away like a child.

Once we were a few hallways away from Loki, Natasha looked at me, and let go of my arm.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" She asked, trying not to shout. I frowned, and rubbed at my arm, which was starting to throb.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, not knowing why she was so upset.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about! What are you doing, spending all your time in there with Loki? And saying that you _like_ him? He's _using_ you, Samantha!" She said.

I held up my hands, stopping her.

"Wait, what do you mean, _using_ me? Loki is _not_ using me!" I tried to defend him. Who was she to just go out and attack him like that? She didn't know him like I did!

"Sam, _think_ about it. He's the God of Lies and Mischief, there's _no way_ he's not using you. He's an expert at lying, and did you really think he'd actually tell you his whole life's story? He's trying to get you on his side, to turn you against us!" She said, starting to yell now.

I started to get angry right then. Who was she to judge him? She didn't know him, so why should she judge?

"You don't _understand_ him like I do! There's no way someone like _you_ could ever understand us!" I screamed. Natasha was getting angry, and I had never seen her angry before. She always kept a lid on her emotions, knowing that they only got in the way, but right now she was _ angry_.

Natasha went completely still, and I stopped breathing, getting a little scared right about now.

"Someone like me? Well, someone like me knows a hell of a lot more than a little girl like you. No wonder Clint never had time for you; you act like a child. And you are a child I have no more time for. So go ahead and play make believe with your little God. But if you side with him, if you become compromised, I will not hesitate to take you down and kill you."

Natasha gave me one last glare, before turning on her heel and walking down the hall.

I watched as her figure retreated, my mouth wide open. I let her words sink in, and when they did, I collapsed onto the floor, sobbing into my arms.

Was I truly that far gone? What if Tasha was right, and Loki _was_ using me? I must have been so naive, to actually think that someone like _him_ could ever feel something for _me_. Maybe he truly was a monster, and was manipulating me so that I turned against everyone that I loved. Against Clint, Tony, Steve, Bruce, even _Fury_.

But his pain had seemed so real. How could he have faked _that_? Why would he go so far _just_ to get me on his side?

I stood up, and wiped the tears from my face.

No.

Loki was not faking. I may be childish and naive, but I knew in my heart that Loki has told me nothing but the truth.

I nodded confidently, and made my way to the control room, looking for Tony. I should have known that he would be in the lab, but it didn't hurt to check.

I was about to head back towards the lab, before a muscled arm blocked my path. I looked up to see that Thor was holding my arm in his hand, obviously wanting to say something.

"Miss Barton, may I-" He began, but I cut him off.

"Sam, please. No one calls me Miss Barton; makes me sound old," I said. Thor nodded, and let go of my arm.

"Lady Sam, then," He said. I immediately rolled my eyes, but let him have his fun.

"I wish to talk to you about my brot-"

I cut him off yet again.

"Let me guess: I've been spending too much time with him, he's using me to tear the team apart, and he doesn't give a damn about me," I guessed, and judging from Thor's expression; I was right.

"Believe me, Blondie, it's been said by two people before you. No need to lecture me," I started walking away, but he followed me.

"My brother is beyond reason, that much is true, but I was going to say something a little different," He said. I turned around, and held up my hands.

"Let's hear it then." I crossed my arms.

Thor sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.

"I have not seen my brother take an interest in many things before, especially not a woman. But whenever he finds something that he wants, he will stop at nothing in order to get it. My Lady, he does not care about _you_, he cares about _having _you," Thor explained.

I sighed, and rubbed my forehead.

"You mean to say that he wishes to _collect_ me?" I asked.

Thor nodded.

"Then you do not know your brother very well." I said, and turned around, heading for the lab. I needed to talk to Tony, and with the way my day was going, I needed to talk to him _now_.

**!#$%^**

**A/N: Hey guys, so that was chapter eight of Complicated. Lots of lecturing :/ Haha, anyways, tell me what you think of Loki and Sam. What do you want to see happen next?**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey there people! Thank you for the massive amount of reviews I got for the last chapter, it means a lot to me :) Anyways, I have another chapter here, so tell me what you think!**

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I headed for the lab, and got there in record timing. When I walked in, Tony and Bruce were still working on finding the cube, being as nerdy as they usually were. Tony turned and caught sight of me, and put down whatever he was working on. He walked over to me, and upon seeing the look on my face, led me out into the hallway.

"Well, you look like you've had a _brilliant_ day so far," He joked, sensing my bad mood. I sighed, and leaned up against the wall for support. I closed my eyes and let out a small groan.

"Well, after you told me not to, I-"

"Visited Loki again?" He asked, already guessing what I had done. I opened my eyes, and saw him staring sadly at me. I frowned, and slid down to the floor, cradling my knees in my arms.

"Yeah," I hid my face in my legs, and let out a deep breath. I looked back up at Tony, who was now sitting on the floor next to me.

"You know, I absolutely _adore_ how well you listen to me," He shook his head, obviously disappointed with me. I immediately felt bad, like I had just done something evil, like kicked a puppy or something equally terrible.

I sighed, and tried to explain it to him.

"Tony, I-I don't know what to think. About _anything_, really. Loki is the bad guy; he's the one who took my brother away from me. I may never see Clint again, and it's all because of Loki. But despite all of that, despite him wanting to kill everyone that I love, I can't help but _feel_ something for him," I said.

Tony was silent as he looked away, thinking to himself.

"The part that scares me is that I don't know _what_ I feel for him. Is it just an understanding, or is it something more than that? I don't know! And that's why I'm so _scared_." I said.

Tony scooted over next to me, and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I gladly leaned into his arms, glad that someone was there to comfort me.

"Well, Princess, looks like you've got yourself into a bit of a mess here," He said.

I sighed into his chest.

"Any advice?" I asked, doubting that he would come up with anything helpful. He was quiet for a long time, and for a moment I thought he hadn't heard me. But then he spoke.

"Sunshine, I'm not going to pretend that I know everything, but I do have something to say to you. Plain and simple; I don't like what's going on between you two. I don't like it, but me not liking it isn't going to help you out at all. I don't understand what you see in him, or what makes you even close to attracted to him, but like I said; that won't change anything. I can't control you, or make you do what I want, because I _know_ you, and you'll do whatever the hell you want to," He chuckled a little bit, making me smile.

"But what I can do, is warn you. Princess, I stand by what I said before; there is no happy ending with Loki. However this turns out: whether we kill him, or capture him, or even get ourselves killed, no version allows you two to be together. And you need to accept that, because if you don't you'll make yourself miserable," He sighed, before continuing.

"Sammie darling, I care about you too much to see you have your heart broken. If you get yourself hurt, just know that you'll be hurting me, as well. Because despite all of my joking, I _do_ care about you," He said.

I smiled, and tried to stop my eyes from tearing up.

"You? _Tony Stark _actually cares about _me_?" I asked, joking through my tears. Tony pulled away from me, and kissed my forehead lightly, before standing up.

"And don't you forget it."

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Tony went back inside the lab, leaving me alone to find something to do with myself. I made my way to the control room, and sat down at the table, thinking to myself.

What did I feel for Loki?

At first it was purely an understanding of him. I understood what he went through, and he understood me. Then it progressed until we knew each other better than anyone else did, which was definitely _not_ part of the plan.

And now?

Now I didn't know what to think.

Every time I see him or his smirk, I melt inside. Whenever I hear him speak, it's like music to my ears. Everything about him made me so _happy_, so why should I have to give that up?

Because he was a murderer, and because he's trying to take over the world. _And_ because Tony was right.

There really was no way that we could ever be together, so _why_ couldn't I shake the feeling of dread every time I thought of forgetting about Loki? It should be easy to do, seeing as he could be considered evil by many people.

But I knew differently, I knew that he wasn't a murderer at heart. Sure, he might have made many mistakes, but who _doesn't_? I knew Loki like no one else did, and I knew that he was worth all of the pain he has caused me; he was worth the chance of losing him.

Loki was worth it.

I sighed, and headed towards the computer that I loved to spend all of my time at. I sat down in the chair, and tried to see if they had made any progress in finding Clint. There was nothing as of yet, but I wouldn't give up hope. They would find him; I knew it.

I sat at the computer for many hours, up until eight at night. My eyes were dry from staring at the screen for all of this time, and my head was beginning to pound. I knew that it was time for bed, even if it was only eight. Who knows? Maybe I could take a nap for a couple of hours and then go back to the computers. I guess we would find out.

I made my way back to my bedroom, and hopped into my bed.

And for the first time in a long time; I had a nightmare.

**!#$%^**

The first thing that I noticed was that it was dark. It was the type of darkness that seemed to infect your very soul, just by standing in it. I was suffocating, and felt like I was drowning in the dark.

The second thing that I noticed in the dream was Loki standing beside me, wearing his battle armor. We were standing in a street of a ruined city, something that looked like the remains of New York City.

I was turning to Loki, who was now smirking his signature smirk.

"Loki? What's going on?" I asked, but my voice felt distant, as if I was speaking from far away. Before I gave Loki a chance to answer, I heard a sound coming from behind us. I whipped around to see Tony lying on the ground, blood covering his chest.

"_Tony_!" I screamed as I ran over to his side. I knelt down, and saw that he had been run through by some kind of weapon. I turned back to Loki, and saw his staff dripping ruby red blood. I screamed in agony, and looked back down at Tony. But it wasn't Tony anymore.

It was Clint.

I sobbed, and held my brother as he bled to death in my arms. I ran a hand through his hair, the hair that I had loved to play with ever since we were little. I hid my face in his chest, not caring that I was getting blood on my face.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and stood up to face Loki. I turned around, and was immediately run through by Loki's blade.

I could feel the pain searing through my body, and was shocked by Loki's smirking face. I collapsed onto the ground, my head meeting asphalt with a loud crack.

"W-why?" I choked out, blood coming out of my mouth as I spoke. Loki just chuckled, and knelt down beside me. He picked up a strand of my light brown hair, twirling it around his fingers.

"You were childish enough to believe my lies. I never cared for you, as you were nothing more than a pawn used to get what I truly wanted. _Power_. Did you actually think that someone _you_ could ever understand someone like _me_? You are a mere mortal, and I am Loki: God of Mischief and Lies," He said, standing up and letting go of my hair.

"I do have to thank you however. Your feelings for me proved to be quite amusing," He laughed, and began walking away.

"Loki…" I gasped out, trying to make him come back. I watched in silence as he walked away from me, my vision slowly fading to black.

"_Loki_!" I screamed, and my vision went dark.

**!#$%^**

"_Loki_!" I bolted out of my bed, sending myself flying flat onto the floor of my quarters. I silently reveled in the cool feeling of the tile floor against my flushed cheek, glad that I was finally back in reality. I sat up slowly, and wiped the sweat away from my brow. But when I went to wipe away my sweat, I found that there were tears staining my cheeks as well.

I stared silently at the closed door, still sitting down on the floor. My eyes roamed the dark room, and caught sight of the red numbers on my alarm clock, which was sitting on my nightstand. It was two thirty in the morning.

I breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm my raging emotions.

My dream: it had seemed so _real_…

I felt tears falling down my cheeks once again as I thought of what Loki had done to my best friend and my own brother. What he had done to _me_. This couldn't be right, could it? He couldn't be playing me! Natasha was wrong, my _dream_ was wrong!

I found myself sprinting out of my room and to the cell, not caring that I was in just a tank top and pajama shorts. This couldn't wait. I ran the entire way there, not stopping for a breather or to rest my aching lungs.

I only stopped when I was standing in front of Loki's cell, staring at the star of my dream.

He was staring at me in curiosity, his eyebrows raised at my clothing. I couldn't care less about what he thought of my clothes, though, and kept staring at him in disbelief.

The man in front of me wasn't the man from my dream, that much was obvious. This man seemed quiet and collected, while the one from my dream seemed drunk on power.

"Samantha?" He asked carefully, probably sensing that I was in a dangerous mood. I looked down at the floor for several moments before answering him.

"Are you using me?" I asked, my eyes already watering. Loki looked shocked, and tilted his head at him.

"What do you m-"

"God _damn_ it Loki! Are you using me to get what you want?" I screamed at him, tears now falling freely down my face.

Loki walked to the glass, and placed a hand on it, the look on his face saying that he felt many things at seeing me cry.

"No." He said, simply.

In that word, I felt so much emotion; I felt like he _truly_ believed what he was saying. That pushed me over the edge, and I fell down to the floor, sobbing. Loki knelt down, his hand still on the glass.

"I should hate you… I should _hate_ you for what you've done, what you've taken away from me," I cried into my arms. I bawled for a few more minutes, before looking up at Loki, who seemed overly concerned about me.

"But I can't. I _can't_ Loki, I can't do it! And believe me; I've _tried_ to. I've _tried_ to hate you, _tried_ to get rid of these feelings for you. But there's something about you, something about seeing you so open with me that stops me every time, and tells me that it would be worth all this pain, just to stand by you. _Why_?" I asked, wanting to know why I felt this way.

"Why do I _feel_ like this?" I could barely see Loki through my tears, but I could clearly hear his answer.

"The heart is not always clear in its intentions." He said.

I took several deep breaths, and my tears finally slowed down until all that was left was the wetness on my cheeks, which I quickly wiped away.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you." I said, feeling bad now for taking all of my frustration out on him. Loki smiled softly, and shook his head.

"I deserved it, since I was the cause of all of that pain." He said. I looked up at him, wondering how this was the same man that had taken my brother.

"Do you regret any of it?" I asked him. I needed to know, but Loki just looked down at his hands, sitting down Indian style. I mimicked him, and scooted as close as I could to the glass.

He still didn't answer, so I moved on.

"Loki, it's not too late for all of this to come to an end! You could stop all of this before it has even begun!" I said, sounding desperate as I begged him to change his ways.

Loki was still silent, sitting there staring at the floor.

"There is no going back. What has been started cannot be stopped, what has been done cannot become undone," He said. His face grew angry, but I didn't know who exactly he was angry at.

"And I do not wish it to stop! Earth is beneath me, and I am its rightful ruler! The human race _deserves_ to be ruled!" He said, but it sounded as though he was trying to convince himself.

"Do _I_ deserve to be ruled, Loki?" I asked, trying to make him _think_ about what he was saying. Instead, his eyes seemed to light up with an idea.

"_You_! You deserve to be their _Queen_! You could rule beside me, and together we could take over the earth, put those petty humans in their place!" He said, and seemed excited about the idea of me ruling beside him.

"We could go down in _history_, and both of us will never be hidden in our brother's shadows ever again! This is the perfect solution for us!" He said.

I smiled softly at him, knowing that it was worth a shot to make him give up on his foolish dream. I stood up, and sighed.

"You should think about what I said, Loki…"

I started to leave, and Loki shot up, both of his hands placed on the glass, watching me. Before I hit the door, I turned back to him, and walked up to the glass, putting both my hands over his.

"Loki, despite everything, I _care_ about you, more than I should. I would never want to see you get hurt. If you _do_ this, if you continue with your plan… I _will_ fightagainst you. And if I find an opening, I will not hesitate to take you down." I said.

I took my hands away from his, and walked towards the exit. Before I left, I sighed, and turned to face Loki one last time before I left.

"Goodnight, Loki."

**!#$%^**

**A/N: Hey guys, so this is the last of Loki being in the cage. The next chapter shall bring Loki's escape, and Clint's return. Should be exciting :D OH! And just to let you know, this story will NOT end with the movie. It shall continue until I see fit! Tell me what you think, guys, it means a lot to hear back from you.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey people! Always awesome to hear back from you guys! Here's the next chapter, lots more action in this one, so it should be interesting to hear back from you about how I did! Anyways, let me know what you think :)**

**!#$%^**

I made sure to take my own sweet time on the walk back to my room, busy thinking of everything we had talked about.

I had really hoped that Loki would be able to change his mind; that he would come to his senses before it was too late. But when was it going to be too late? It had been several days now, and he still had no plan of escape. I feared that it would be soon that he would put his plan in motion, and when he did that, there would be no hope left for him.

And what was he talking about when he said I could be his Queen? He was _nuts_! How could he expect that I would just turn against my own kind, my friends and my _family_, just because I felt a little something for him?

But then again, wasn't I asking the same thing of him? To switch sides? It must seem as impossible for him to do as it did for me.

I sighed, and walked back to my room, getting a little tired. My nightmare had taken a lot out of me, and I so I decided to just go back to sleep. Something told me I may need the rest.

I was woken up the next morning by the obnoxious chirping of my alarm clock, and I practically smashed it in my attempt to make it stop screaming at me.

I groaned, and stretched out my limbs. I reluctantly got up and dressed in my usual skinny jeans and t-shirt, putting my gun in my holster. It was strange how my gun simply seemed to be a part of me now, like a third arm or leg. I haven't had the chance to use it much, but carrying its weight around all day every day has kind of gotten me attached to it.

Heading out of my room and to the lab, I took out my phone and began playing a game on it. I was almost to the lab when I could hear Steve yelling. I knew that Tony and Steve didn't get along very well, so it wasn't a surprise to see the fighting begin this early in the morning.

I walked into the lab, and everyone turned to face me. Steve looked really angry, Tony was simply amused, and Bruce looked like he was trying to hide in an invisible shell.

"Hey guys. What's up?" I asked. Tony rolled his eyes at Steve, and walked over to my side.

"The usual," He said. Now it was my turn to roll my eyes, and I shoved Tony playfully.

"And the usual involves yelling at each other?"

Tony smirked, and walked back over to Bruce's side.

"Well, Bruce and I both agree that Fury is hiding something pretty big, but Mr. Patriot over there is having a hard time believing it," He summed it up.

I raised my eyebrows at Tony, but turned to look at Steve.

"Steve?" I asked gently. He turned around to face me, his face red with anger.

"What do you know about this? You've been living with S.H.I.E.L.D. ever since you were a little girl. You must have _something _to share," He said.

I sighed, and thought about all of the locked doors I had seen while I was lost.

"Well, back at the old base, I knew everything that they tried to hide. But that was then, and this is now. There are two things I know for certain. One is that _every_ S.H.I.E.L.D. base has its secrets, and since this is _the_ headquarters, I wouldn't be surprised if they were hiding something bigger than all of the other base's secrets put together. Second, to prove that they _have_ secrets, I came across some locked doors while I was wandering around the other day. They were somewhere in the East Wing, and they looked pretty important," I said.

"That's all I know."

Tony seemed impressed, but Steve just looked angry in his silent-glaring way.

"Just find the cube…" He muttered as he marched out of the door. I watched as he went towards the East Wing, looking determined. I smiled, knowing what he was about to do, but looked back at Tony.

"So, do you just like making fun of Steve or what?" I asked him. Tony smirked, and shrugged his shoulders.

"The guy's asking for it," He said, and got back to work on finding the cube. I walked over to the screen, and watched as they worked their magic. But I smirked when what I saw wasn't anything related to the Tesseract.

"This doesn't look like finding the cube…" I said, wondering what in the world it was saying 'Access Denied' for. I glanced over at Tony, who didn't look up from the screen as he spoke.

"Sunshine, I thought you were smart. I'm in the process of breaking into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database, trying to know just what exactly they're hiding from us. Should be done anytime now," He said. He then pointed to another screen, and I saw that that was the one doing all of the work on finding the cube. I nodded.

"Alright,"

I hopped up onto the counter beside Tony, and rested my head on his shoulder, wishing that I could be anyone else right now.

Only _I_ would have feelings for a God who was trying to take over the world I lived on. Why _me_? Why couldn't it be some other person, and then _I_ could be the one lecturing _her_ about her love life. But _no_, it just _had_ to be me. I'm sure Clint would be proud of me, his own sister hanging out with the one who took his mind from him.

I winced at the thought of my brother. I hadn't thought of what he might think of me hanging out with Loki. I knew that he definitely wouldn't be a very proud brother, but what would he do? Would he not consider me his sister anymore? Would I lose him again?

I sighed, and took my head off of Tony's shoulder just in time to see Fury storm into the lab, looking just a tad bit angry.

"Stark, what are you doing?" He asked, and it was obvious he knew about Tony trying to hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems. Tony didn't even blink as he responded.

"Yeah, well, I was kind of wondering the same thing about _you_, Fury." He said. Fury shook his head.

"You're supposed to be looking for the _cube_," Fury spoke.

"We are," Bruce stepped in, and pointed to the monitor behind Fury, which was in the process of finding the Tesseract. There was a beeping, and I looked over to the monitor to my right, which had a new window open, revealing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets.

"What's Phase 2?" I asked, curious as I watched blueprints pop up onto the screen. I looked up at the door as Steve walked in, carrying a large gun. He slammed it down onto the table, and glared up at Fury.

"Phase 2 is that S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the cube to make _weapons_. I was wrong, the world hasn't changed a bit," Steve said, and shook his head. Fury tried to backtrack, and started holding up his hands in defense.

"That's just a prototype; it's nothing to get-"

Tony turned the screen around, showing plans for a missile that clearly involved the cube.

"I'm sorry Nicholas, _what_ were you saying?" Tony smirked, showing him the blueprints for the missile. Fury sighed, and stared at the ground.

Just then, Thor walked in with Natasha, joining our little 'party'.

"Do you want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Dr. Banner?" Natasha asked, and Bruce shook his head.

"No, actually, I want to hear what Fury's up to, making a weapon with a power source like the Tesseract." He said.

"Director Fury, don't you think that the Tesseract should be left alone? I mean, the energy of that thing may be able to power the earth someday, but I think that it would cause more damage than it's worth," I chipped in with my opinion, trying not to sound too disrespectful.

Soon, it was chaos.

Everyone was talking all at once, and I was getting overwhelmed. Thor wanted to know what was going on, Steve was fuming about how the world was still the same, Bruce was demanding to know what Fury was thinking, Natasha and Fury were trying to calm everyone down, and Tony was just chipping in with random comments here and there.

I didn't know what would be more helpful, for me to stay silent, or to try and stop people from talking all of our ears off. Eventually, though, Fury glared down at the floor, and pointed a finger at Thor.

"It was because of _him_."

Thor looked around, obviously still confused.

"Me?"

"Last year, we had a visitor from a different world with a grudge that leveled a small town." Fury spoke. Thor narrowed his eyes.

"My people have always been at peace with your world!" He said. Fury looked up at him, tilting his head slightly.

"Yeah, well you're not the only people out there, are you?"

He turned back to face everyone else, and continued explaining.

"We realized that we are hopelessly, _hilariously_, outgunned. The world is filling up with people who can't be matched. We needed something to calm the situation down,"

Tony scoffed, and shook his head.

"Yeah, because a _nuclear weapon _always calms things right down." He said, walking towards Fury.

"How was a weapon with _that_ much power a _solution_? All it's going to do is make things even worse!" I said, not believing that they thought a weapon like _that_ was going to fix things. How did they think that it was going to 'make it all better'? I stood next to Bruce, and shook my head.

Wait.

This _had_ to have something to do with Loki. Of course _he_ would be the one to try and tear us apart from the inside, and honestly? It was working. Here we were, fighting amongst ourselves, when the real problem was _him_.

My heart seemed to stop as I came to the sudden realization that _this_ was what he wanted, and right now was the perfect opportunity to strike.

He was going to escape while we were all standing around, fighting.

I looked around, and everyone seemed to be captivated by Bruce, who was talking about God knows what. I glanced towards the door, and knew where I had to go.

Taking a deep breath, I bolted out of the room, heading for Loki's cell. I could hear Tony shout out after me, but I was already long gone.

It was then, while I was running, that the explosion happened.

It seemed to come from nowhere, but the power of it not ten feet away from me knocked me back, throwing me at the wall opposite of the explosion.

The wind was knocked out of me, and I couldn't breathe for at least a minute, and my limbs were nonresponsive. Once I was able to breathe again, I used all of my strength to stand up off of the ground, and move forward.

I stumbled along, trying to make my way through the debris of the walls that had crashed down around me. Technically I crawled half of the time, my limbs still slow to do what I wanted them to. By the time I made my way away from the site of the explosion, I was able to run again.

One thing that I wasn't expecting, however, was for someone to be in this area. Well, _someone_ was, because I ran smack into them, nearly sending me _and_ the other person flying to the floor.

I looked up, and let out a strangled cry at who I saw.

It was Clint.

My breathing seemed to stop as I stared at my brother for the first time in what seemed like forever, and from looking at his eyes I could tell that this wasn't _my_ Clint. What truly made me realize that he wasn't himself, though, was when he raised his bow level to my chest, about to send an arrow straight through my heart.

My eyes widened, and I immediately dropped to the floor to avoid getting shot. The arrow flew above my head as I collapsed to the ground, but took advantage of my position and knocked his feet out from underneath him.

He fell to the floor, and I quickly jumped on top of him, pinning his arms to his side. He struggled, and tried to buck me off, but I held him steady, using a lot of my martial arts training in the process.

"_Clint_!" I screamed at him, trying to get my brother back. I finally had the chance to _save_ him, and I wasn't about to let it slip from my grasp. He didn't respond, didn't even look me in the eyes.

"Clint, _please_!" I begged him to come back to me. I was so emotionally disturbed at that moment, I accidently loosened my hold on him, and he literally _threw_ me off. I groaned from the pain of my head smashing into yet another wall, but this time I sat up quickly, my eyes trying to find my brother.

I didn't have to look too far, though, because he was kneeling right in front of me, his bow aimed at my head.

"Clint, I know that _some_ part of you can hear me. You have to try and break Loki's hold on you! I know that you don't want to be doing this, so _please_ try and break through!" I said.

Clint didn't respond, didn't even take his bow away from my face. I sighed, and shook my head. There was no use; Loki's powers were too strong. I looked at Clint one last time, and then closed my eyes, accepting my fate.

There was a whistling sound, and then a dull thud.

I kept my eyes closed, but after nothing happened, I opened them.

Clint was nowhere to be seen.

I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding, and looked around. What caught my eye, was the arrow that was not even an inch away from where my head had been, lodged into the wall. My eyes narrowed, and I started to wonder.

Why hadn't he killed me? He never missed, so if the arrow hadn't hit me, he didn't want me dead. But _why_? I thought that his mind was gone, that he couldn't think with Loki there inside of his head.

But the same thing happened when he shot me with his gun; he hit me in a non-lethal area of my body, straight through. He _had_ to have been thinking then, because he didn't hesitate in shooting _Fury_ in the chest.

Maybe my brother was still in there somewhere, and we just had to pull him out.

I sighed, my breath a little shaky, but knew I had to go to Loki. He could have very well escaped by now, and I wasn't about to let that happen.

I stood up, and sprinted towards the cell room.

I made it there in record timing, and wasn't surprised to see Loki already out of his cage, surrounded by men that worked for him.

He was staring off to the side, and hadn't noticed me yet.

"So I take it you ignored what I said?"

Loki whipped around, his eyes narrowing when he caught sight of me. We stared at each other for a long time, before he finally motioned for his guards to leave the room. Once they were gone, I slowly walked towards him, until we were as close as we normally were when we had the glass between us.

"Loki, why are you _doing_ this?" I whispered, wanting to know why he continued causing so much chaos. Doesn't he realize that it will get him _nowhere_? He would be defeated, and then I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

The thought of being without Loki caused a sharp pain in my heart, and I let out a little gasp.

Loki stared at me for a long time, without saying anything. Then, he looked up at me, opening his mouth to speak. But before he could get any words out, we heard loud footsteps enter the room.

It was Thor.

Before he could see either of us, Loki created an illusion to trick Thor, and it worked. The fake Loki looked like he was about to escape the cage, and Thor let out a shout, rushing towards it.

He tried to force the fake Loki back into the cage, but he simply passed through the illusion, and winded up locked in the cell himself.

"_No_!" I screamed, and ran to the cage, my hands smacking against the glass.

Thor looked up at me in confusion, but then looked to Loki.

"Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?" Loki asked Thor, smirking. I didn't look away from Thor, my hands in fists upon the glass.

The one person who knew Loki well enough to stop him was now stuck in a _cage_. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked behind me to see Loki standing there, a wary look on his face.

This was the first time we had actually touched each other, this time without the glass between us. I grabbed his hand and held it in my own, reveling silently in the softness of his skin.

He placed his hand on my cheek, my own hand still covering his. I closed my eyes for just a moment, the power his touch had over me was simply amazing. Then, I came back to my senses.

This was _Loki_.

My eyes shot open, and I shoved Loki away from me with all of the strength I was capable of. He looked shocked, but soon smirked, looking back at Thor. He wandered over to the computer that controlled the cage, pressing several buttons and opening the hatch beneath the cell that Thor was trapped in.

"The humans think us to be immortal. Shall we test that?" He went to press the red button that would send Thor falling to his death, but someone stopped him, and this time it wasn't me.

"Step away from the controls," A voice ordered. I looked over to see Agent Phil Coulson standing there with a giant gun aimed at Loki's chest.

"_Coulson_!" I whispered, knowing that he was in over his head. Hell, _I_ was in over my head.

He just smiled gently at me, before turning to Loki, who was eyeing the weapon with a look of caution.

"That's right. We started developing this after Thor first came here. Even I don't know what it does." He threatened. Loki stepped away from the controls, his hands held up in a sign of surrender.

But his eyes told another story entirely.

"_Phil_!" I screamed right as Loki stabbed Coulson right through the heart with his staff.

My knees gave out, and I collapsed to the ground. I watched as Phil's face contorted in pain, and only came to my senses a few seconds later. I rushed to his side, putting pressure on his wound. My hands soon became drenched in blood, and I knew that there was nothing that I could do to help him.

"Phil…" I said, tears welling up in my eyes.

Yet another good Agent, lost because of Loki.

I whipped around to find Loki about to press the button that would decide Thor's fate. I wiped my bloody hands on my jeans, staining them. Slowly, I stood up, pointing a shaky finger at Loki.

"Loki, don't _do_ this. I know that you have good in you; you just have to make the right choice! Please, Loki!" I begged him. I knew that once he pressed that button, it was all over for us. Whatever little _crush_ I might have had on him, would be irrelevant. He would be the enemy.

Loki just shook his head, and his fingers inched closer to the red button. I wiped tears away from my cheeks, and took a deep breath.

"Loki, I'm warning you now. The minute you press that button, my feelings for you won't matter anymore. All that will matter is that you are trying to take over the world, and I will be forced to stop you. I don't want to see you get hurt, Loki, but I'll take you down myself if I get the chance. Loki, now is your chance to finally make a decision: choose me, or choose your stupid little dream of ruling the world," I said.

I held out my hands, trying to make him change his mind.

"Make your choice."

Loki's eyes never left mine as he pressed the button, sending Thor to his almost certain death.

I nearly collapsed again, but knew that I had to stay strong.

Loki started walking towards me, but a blast of energy sent him flying through the opposite wall. I looked around to see Phil sitting there, still fighting for life.

I was instantly at Loki's side, but he quickly sat up, apparently unharmed. He stood, and stared down at me with his sparkling emerald eyes. I stared back at him, unsure of what to do next. At that moment, it was clear to me what my feelings for Loki were. It also became clear that this was probably the last time we would be talking, instead of fighting. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I certainly didn't expect that I would do _this_.

I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his lips down onto mine.

I suppose the most shocking part of the whole situation was the fact that Loki was actually _kissing me back_, placing his hands gently on my waist. I melted inside, and I knew that if he were anyone else, I would follow him to the ends of the earth.

It was then that I knew what love felt like.

**!#$%^**

**A/N: Hey there people! So in this chapter we have a little bit of Clint, and a whole lot of Loki. I wanted to give you some more Loki/Sam, and this kind of just … happened. It was totally unplanned, but somehow fit. Anyways, tell me what you think of it, about Clint, Loki, or any other person or event that you liked. Let me know, my little reviewers :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Oh my God! I'm so sorry guys! I totally did not mean to drop off of the face of the planet, but there were so many things going on in my life and I couldn't write at ALL :( But I'm back now, and I have the Avengers DVD! My mother's friend got it for me! Anyways, that means that I'll be able to watch it over and over again, so the story will be more accurate from now on! Let me know what you think, my lovely reviewers :D**

**! #$%^**

In those few seconds of feeling Loki's lips upon mine, all I could think about was how _hard_ I had fallen for him, and in such a short time. How had he done it? How had he captured my heart so _effortlessly_?

To say that I didn't want to feel this way would have been a massive understatement. This was _Loki_ we were talking about! The person who wanted to take over the world, the god who had killed dozens of the people I worked with. He was a monster, and I was _repulsed_ by the fact that I would willingly spend the rest of my days by his side if this feeling never went away.

Soon enough we had to come up for air, and the grim reality of the situation came crashing down on me. Coulson was lying not even ten feet away from where we stood, breathing his last few breaths. Thor was plummeting towards the earth, helpless, and the whole entire ship was falling out of the sky.

I spared a glance up at Loki, tears sparkling in my light blue eyes. I knew that I had to leave him, but my heart was telling me to stay. And God, did I _want_ to. But I knew that despite how I felt about him, I would never betray my country for him. Betray my _friends_. I couldn't do it.

But that didn't mean that I couldn't enjoy it in the few seconds that I had it.

I reached up and pulled him down to me, kissing him one last time and reveling in the feeling of his lips moving in unison with mine, before roughly pushing myself away from him.

I sprinted back towards Coulson, putting pressure on his stab wound once again. Damn it! I knew from just looking at the wound and the blood that it was too severe for him to ever get back up again.

It wasn't fair! I had seen Coulson around the base, and he was always such a sweet guy. Very polite, with a sense of humor that I admired. And now he was dying, all because of Loki.

It seemed like my life had turned to shit the _second_ Loki arrived, and of course, _he_ was the one I was falling in love with!

I looked back up to see Loki still standing there, hesitating. Tears were now flowing freely down my face, and I could barely see Loki through my blurred vision.

"Go," I told him, giving him one final chance to leave.

"Samantha…" He said, his beautiful voice causing me to cry even harder. I gazed down at my bloody hands, my sobs rocking my small frame. Why did he have to do this? Why now? Why couldn't he just leave instead of making this ten times harder for me. Well, maybe I deserved a painful goodbye, after what I've done.

"_Go_!" I shrieked at him, and this time he was smart enough to listen, leaving to carry out his plan against the world.

The second he was out of sight, I buried my face in my knees, trying to muffle the sounds of my agony. Everything had gone wrong: Coulson was dying just a foot away from me, Thor was lost, and Loki had escaped. _No_.

I had _let_ him escape.

I didn't know how much time had passed, but soon enough calloused hands pulled my up onto my feet. I looked over at the person who had picked me up, and saw that Fury was standing there, telling me to stop crying and act like the Agent I was. At least, I think he was. Everything was going fuzzy.

I watched as Coulson spoke his last words, and at the sight of this _innocent_ man lying there on the floor, _dying_ because of something Loki did . . . it broke my heart.

It wasn't too long before I couldn't take it anymore, and I dashed out of the room and down the hallways of the ship. I didn't know where I was running to, or where I'd end up, but at that point I didn't care. Why should I care?

I ran until I was out of breath, ran until I could no longer run, and then stopped, leaning up against the wall for support.

Tears kept falling, and it seemed like they'd never stop; that they'd keep on falling until I flooded the ship with my sorrow.

A scuffling sound made me look up, and across the hallway from me . . . was _Tony_.

His face was completely blank and emotionless, and I knew from experience that it meant he was in terrible pain, no doubt from everything that had happened today. Upon seeing me, he began to make his way to my side, hurrying his steps when he got closer.

Once he was within an arm's length, I launched myself at him. He wrapped his arms around me, and stroked my wavy hair, shushing me and trying to calm me down. It didn't stop my sobbing; only caused it to grow louder.

"It's okay, Sunshine, it's okay,"

At that point, my knees gave out, but Tony was there to catch me. We sank to the floor together, both of our pain laid bare for the other to see.

"It's going to be alright," Tony's voice cracked as he spoke, his pain finally showing through his emotionless mask. As I sobbed, I felt a tear fall from his cheek, landing in my light brown hair.

And so we cried together, sitting there on the ground for an unknown amount of time, trying to comfort each other with our words.

My tears eventually ran dry, and I became silent, hiccupping occasionally into Tony's chest. I snuggled into his arms, trying to make my pain go away, trying to make _all_ of it go away.

How could this have happened? Not too long ago I was getting coffee for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and now here I was sitting with Tony Stark, my whole world falling apart in front of my eyes.

I didn't think things could even _go_ this badly, but I suppose I was proven wrong every time.

Eventually, Fury spoke over our communicators, telling us that he wanted to see me, Tony, and Steve at our usual meeting spot. Tony sighed, and pulled me to my feet. He held onto me as we walked, and we slowly made our way to the control room.

When we got to the room, there seemed to be a whole lot of missing people, and I realized that a lot of them must have been killed during Loki's escape. I wondered briefly where Dr. Banner was, but then remembered a strange roaring sound I heard while trying to get to Loki, and realized that he must have changed into the Hulk.

Judging by the fact that the ship wasn't being torn apart, he must have either changed back, or been tossed off of the ship. I hoped for the former, but if he was here, he'd be sitting at this table by now.

I slumped down into a chair besides Steve, and waited for Fury to start talking. He was fingering a deck of cards, ones that I soon realized to be Agent Coulson's collection of Captain America trading cards. Steve had told me about Phil's little obsession with him, and I had found it to be beyond cute.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. I guess he never did get you to sign them." Fury threw the cards, and they landed in front of Steve. Hesitantly, he reached forward and picked one up, his face full of sadness.

I put a hand on Steve's shoulder, and squeezed gently. His eyes connected with mine, and he swallowed hard, placing the bloody card back onto the table.

"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal of weapons with the Tesseract. I never put all of my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier," Fury paced back and forth, finally telling us the truth.

"There was an idea, and Stark knows this," He began. I looked over at Tony, but he was facing away from me, staring out into nothing. "It was called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight to battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died _still_ believing in that idea," He said.

"In heroes."

Tony shot out of his seat the second the word _heroes_ was mentioned.

Tony shook his head, and walked out of the room, not sparing a single glance back at us. I frowned, propping my elbows up onto the table and holding my head, which had begun to pound from all of the times it has been thrown up against a wall in the past few hours.

"Well, it's an old fashioned notion." Fury sighed. I looked down at my hands, and stood up, heading after Tony. I heard footsteps behind me, and looked back to see Steve following me. I stopped, and allowed him to catch up, before continuing down to the cell room, where I knew Tony would be.

We made it there soon after we had started out, and saw Tony standing by the edge in front of the hatch. I wandered over to his side, and squeezed his hand gently. He looked down at me, staring at me for a long time, before turning and looking back at the wall.

"Was he married?" Steve asked from across the room, and we both knew he was asking about Phil. Tony didn't look away from the wall.

"No. There was a cellist, I think," Tony answered. Steve nodded, looked down at the floor before he said anything more.

"I'm sorry. He was a good man."

Tony scoffed, and moved away from us.

"He was an idiot." He said. I frowned, and noticed Steve doing the same thing.

"Why?" I asked.

"For believing?" Steve added. Tony just shook his head at us.

"For taking on Loki alone." He put his hands in his pocket, walking away from us.

"He was doing his job." Steve said.

"He was out of his league. He should have waited, he should have..." He trailed off, looking heartbreakingly miserable.

"Sometimes there isn't a way out," Steve said, walking towards Tony. Tony moved away from both of us, walking towards the door. He was about to leave when Steve spoke.

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

"We are _not_ soldiers!" Tony's voice spewed out venom, and I flinched at the sound of it. He looked guilty for being so harsh when he caught sight of my face, and tried to calm himself down.

"I'm not Fury's tool to be used..." He said, gentler this time. I shook my head, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Neither are we. He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki," My voice seemed about an octave higher when I said Loki's name, but I knew that this wasn't the time to get into this argument.

"But right now we've got to put that behind us, and get this _done_." I said, nodding my head. I needed to put all of this behind me, especially my relationship with Loki, and go save the world.

"Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list-" Steve was cut off by Tony.

"He made it personal." Tony said, realizing something. Steve shook his head at Tony.

"That's not the point." He said, probably worried that Tony was just saying that because of his feelings. Tony nodded furiously.

"That _is_ the point. _That's _Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live, and _why_?"

"To tear us apart," I answered softly, hesitant of what Tony was going to say next.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he _knows_ he has to take us out to win, right? _That's_ what he wants. He want to beat us, he wants to be _seen_ doing it." Tony paused for a second, before motioning with his finger.

"He wants an audience. Yes, this was just the _previews_, this is _opening_ _night_ and Loki is an all out _diva_. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a _monument_ built to the sky with his _name_ plastered on i-" Tony paused, obviously realizing something important. Steve and I waited, before I motioned for him to continue.

"Son of a bitch."

Tony rushed down the steps and through the door, with us on his tail. He ran down the hallways, heading towards the room with his suit.

"Loki is going for Stark Tower," He said as we ran. Steve immediately split off for his room to get ready for the upcoming fight.

"Sammie darling, you ready to play with the big kids?" He asked, ruffling my hair slightly. I scoffed, and punched his arm.

"Are _you_?" I smiled. Tony smirked, and pointed to his left.

"Go suit up, and meet us by the docking hanger. Make sure to get us a nice jet,"

And with that, I ran off to my room as fast as I could. I dressed in my sturdiest uniform, and strapped on two of my best guns, and several knives to my ankles. I put my hair in a ponytail, and sprinted out to the hanger.

I chose the one closest to the exit, and started up all of the systems. I didn't know how to fly it, but I knew enough from spending so much time around S.H.I.E.L.D. that I was able to start it.

"You ready?" I heard a voice ask someone from outside of the jet. I froze in my seat, immediately recognizing the voice and who it belonged to. Not knowing what else to do, I sprinted out of the jet and nearly ran into the person, casing my breath to catch in my throat, and tears to fall out of my eyes.

"_Clint_?"

At the sound of my voice, Clint turned around, disbelief written all over his face. He looked to be normal again, but I couldn't be sure. I turned to Natasha, who was standing beside him, and when she nodded an affirmative, I threw myself into his arms.

"Oh my God, _Clint_! I'm _so_ sorry! I'm _so_ _so_ sorry! I'm _sorry_!" I nearly wailed into his shoulder, and for a second I didn't get any response.

"Sammie?" He asked hesitantly, and pulled away to look at me. When I looked into his eyes, I saw something that I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. He was crying. My brother, _Hawkeye_, was crying. At that point, I lost it, and threw myself into his arms again.

"I'm sorry for being so childish! I don't hate you, and you were right, I wasn't ready for an assignment, and you always knew what was best for me, but I just couldn't see it at the time! You were always right and I was always wrong, and I'm _sorry_!" I rambled on into his shoulder. He shushed me, holding me tight in his arms.

"It's okay Sammie. Shh, it's okay." He said.

"I love you Clint, I love you so much..." I sobbed, and I could feel him nodding.

"I love you too, Sammie."

I pulled away at last, and wiped my tears. I then turned to Natasha, ready to apologize. I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it.

"I'm sorry, Samantha. I really am."

And that was all I needed to hear. I held out my hand to her, and she took it.

"Alright guys, as much as I love the mushy stuff, we've got to get going," I heard Tony's voice crackle from the inside of my ear. I smiled up at Clint, and together the four of us walked into the jet.

"Just so you guys know, I'm _not_ going to be the one to tell Legolas about his sister and Loki. Just putting it out there." Tony said nonchalantly.

My eyes widened, and I snuck a look over at Clint. He was frozen in place, and was looking at me in absolute disbelief. He glanced over at Natasha and Steve, but they both said nothing and pointed back at me. Clint's gaze zeroed in on me, and I got the shivers just from his glare.

"_What did Stark say_?" He asked through gritted teeth.

I laughed nervously, and rubbed my arm feverishly.

"Um, that they're giving away free lattes at Starbucks?"

Upon seeing Clint's reaction, I knew that I would be dead even before the battle for earth had begun.

**! #$%^**

**A/N: So, that was that. I apologize for the long wait, but I was held up for a very long time. But, I have the Avengers DVD now, so I should be able to update quicker than usual. Tell me what you think about everything. This is my first chapter in a long time, so it might be a little off. I don't know, you guys tell me! **

**-Sara**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks to the people who reviewed my last chapter, it means a lot to hear back from you guys! Okay, so I'm having a sort of poll. I'm going to write another Avengers story, and I want your opinion. What pairing should I do? Anything with an OC, or even with characters already in the movie, I'll write. I'll write anything, so just request a story and I'll get to it!**

**! #$%^**

"_What the hell did Stark just say_?" Clint shouted, all traces of his previous happiness gone from his face. Instead, his face was a very bright red color, and a green vein was visible in his forehead. I scooted back from him, beyond terrified of the man in front of me. I shot a look over at Steve and Natasha, but they were conveniently busy getting the jet up into the air.

"Damn it Tony..." I muttered under my breath, horrified that he chose to bring this topic up right _now_. Of all times he could have brought it up, why _now_? I mean, we were about to go to _battle_, and he thinks it's a good time to bring up the fact that I was in love with the man we were going to fight?

"You know that you love me," I heard him say from the other line.

I sighed, and waited until the jet was moving to speak to Clint, who was still glaring at me.

"Over the past week, I noticed how... similar I am to Loki," I started, still not knowing how I should continue from this point.

"_Similar_? How the hell are you two _similar_?" He yelled, venom dripping from his words.

I winced, and sat down in a seat, with Clint sitting down across from me.

"Well, our _situations_ are similar, I..."

"How the _fuck_ are you like _him_, Samantha?"

I had had enough at the point. He didn't get to yell at me like this!

"_Because we both have brothers who think that they so much fucking better than us_!" I screamed, my temper getting the best of me.

"Everyone loves you Clint, you're _Hawkeye_ for God's sake! How could I _ever_ compare to _that_? I'll _always_ be underneath you in everyone else's eyes! And how can I be angry at Loki for being in the _same_ situation? We both know what it's like to _never_ be good enough. No matter what we do, our brothers can always do better!" I shouted.

Clint's face softened, and he stood from his spot across from me.

"Sammie..." He started

I shot up out of my seat, and held up a hand.

"_No_! You don't get to 'Sammie' me, and make everything better! _No_!"

My voice was hoarse from screaming, and my head had started to pound. I sighed, and slumped back into my chair.

"You of all people know that we can't choose who we fall in love with." I shot a pointed look at the redhead who was piloting the jet, and Clint groaned when he realized what I was talking about. I had always known that he was in love with Natasha, but I had never brought it up before now.

"Samantha, there's a difference. Loki is _an evil God who is trying to take over the world_!" He said. I shook my head.

"Loki's not evil. _Misguided_, maybe." I clarified. Clint rolled his eyes at me.

"He's still trying to take over the world!"

I was silent for a long time, before I finally spoke up.

"I don't like that I'm in love with him. I hate it. And I would change it if I could, but I can't. I can't change it Clint. But I can go against it. Did you know that I could have gone with him? I could have gone with him instead of being here. But I didn't, and I'm here. So let's go kick his ass, alright?"

Clint stared at me for a long time, searching for something in my eyes, before finally nodding.

"I don't like it, but I understand. Just know that I'm going to punch him in the face the second I'm able to..." He said, before moving up and taking Steve's spot at the front of the plane. I sighed with relief, and leaned back in my chair.

I honestly thought that Clint wouldn't take it as well as he did. I don't know what I expected him to do, maybe throw stuff around, maybe put an arrow in someone's head, I don't know. But considering everything that he _could_ have done, this was quite successful.

But now it was time to focus, to get ready for what was to come. And what was going to come? Was I really prepared to fight Loki? To hurt him? I didn't think I was, but I knew that I would most likely have no choice. We headed to Stark Tower, right on Tony's trail.

We were only a couple of minutes behind him, and I knew that we would be reaching the tower soon. Everything boiled down to this point. Would we even be able to stop Loki? Would he be successful in taking over the world?

I sighed, and shook my head of those types of thoughts. My fingers played with my gun on my thighs, and I quietly pondered over how I got here. Not too long ago, I was just an ordin- well, no. I was never ordinary. But never had I thought that I would become part of the Avengers Initiative. Never had I thought that I would play such an important part in saving our world. But hey, things happen, and we just have to go along with it.

I had my brother back, and that was all that mattered to me. Well, it wasn't _all_ that mattered to me, but it was pretty damn close. And what was going to happen after this? If we are capable of bringing down Loki, what happens next? Would I continue being a part of the Avenger's Initiative? Would I _still_ play an important part in future missions?

And what of Loki?

I knew that we most likely wouldn't be able to kill him, what with him being a god and all, but surely there would be dire consequences. He would be taken back to wherever him and Thor are from, and the King (who I believe is called Odin) would deal with him however he wanted to.

All options didn't seem to look too good in his favor. Well, what did I expect? He was trying to take over the world, after all. That can't be taken too lightly, even among gods. But I'd get through it, as I had a new family to help me.

Family.

As strange as the word was, it sort of fit. I mean, yeah, these were a bunch of ragtag superheroes, but they were _my_ bunch of ragtag superheroes. And I suppose that I was their obnoxious young trainee. We fit together, and despite all of the bickering, I didn't know what I'd do without Tony, Clint, Steve, Bruce, and even Natasha.

I may be an orphan, but _this_ was my family. And there was no place else I'd rather be.

We were closing in on New York city, and from here I could see Stark Tower. I stood from my seat, and walked to the front of the plane. I could hear Tony on the communication channel, and he was talking to Dr. Selvig about turning off the Tesseract.

"…It wants to show us something! A new universe!" We could hear Dr. Selvig say, and I cast a glance over at Clint. Was this what he was like when his mind was taken over by Loki? Did he actually believe that the Tesseract was good, something to be worshipped?

"Yeah, okay…" Tony muttered, bringing his hands up and shooting at the machine. A barrier appeared, and the energy from the blast sent the jet flying back a little. When we were steady, I saw Tony recover.

"Time for Plan B…" He said, looking down at something. Following his gaze, my eyes landed on Loki, who was standing there with his staff in his hands. Tony brought himself down onto the platform, starting to take off his suit.

"What is that idiot doing?!" I gasped. He'd get himself killed!

"Open the hatch, Natasha." I said, heading towards the back of the jet. Natasha, Steve, and Clint all turned to me, their expressions telling me exactly what they thought about that idea.

"Come on guys! I need to do this! Tony's down there by himself, and I need to sort out my… issues with Loki," I finished, hoping that they got how much I needed to do this.

Clint stared at me for a long time, before nodding.

"I underestimated you before, and it led to almost losing you. I won't make the same mistake again," He said, nodding at me. He pressed a button, and the hatch opened up right above the platform.

I walked to the edge of the plane, and was about to jump out when Clint called out my name.

"Sammie! Just… be careful, alright? I love you."

And with that, I jumped.

Tony and Loki were already inside, but I walked into the room, listening in on their conversation.

"Please tell me you're going to _appeal_ to my _humanity_…" Loki drawled, and I could already picture his smirk.

"Ah, actually, I was going to threaten you." Tony responded.

"You should have left your armor on for that," Loki chuckled at him.

"Yeah…" I could see Tony walking down the steps, and I crouched down behind the bar area, where they couldn't see me.

"Would you like a drink?" He asked, and I nearly started laughing. Tony would be Tony, no matter what.

"Stalling me won't change anything," Loki said, a smile evident in his words. Tony shook his head at the god.

"No no no. _Threatening_," He clarified. "No drink? You sure?" He asked, grabbing a bottle from his collection.

"I'll have one." It was at this point that I jumped in, standing up from my crouching position. Upon seeing me, Tony never faltered. It was obvious that he knew that I was there all along.

Loki, however, snarled viciously upon seeing my face, and whipped away from me. He walked towards the giant window, looking out of it.

"The Chitauri are coming. _Nothing_ will change that," He spoke, shooting a quick glance in my direction.

"What have I to fear?" He asked. I didn't know if I was just making this up, but it almost sounded like he was asking himself that, as if he were trying to convince himself that he _didn't_ have anything to fear.

"The Avengers." Tony said, grabbing two drink glasses. Loki turned around to face to two of us, frowning in his confusion. Tony shrugged, and poured an unknown liquor into the glasses.

"That's what we call ourselves. We're something of a team: earth's mightiest heroes, that type of thing." He said, sounding completely confident.

"I've met them," Loki said, a grin creeping over his handsome features. Tony laughed along with him, before turning semi-serious.

"Takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one," He looked down at the counter, sliding my drink over to me. "But, let's do a headcount here: your brother, a demi-god. The super soldier, a living legend, who kind of lives up to the legend. A man with _breathtaking_ anger management issues. Throw in a couple of master assassins, and a vengeful, gun wielding teenager," He said.

I bristled a little bit at him calling me a teenager, but overall stayed silent. I did manage to send Loki a glare, however, just to let him know how I felt about him taking my brother. Judging from his wince, I think I got the point across.

"And _you_, big fella, have managed to piss them all off. Every single one of them." Tony said, smirking. Loki shot me a look before he answered, and I couldn't quite tell what it meant. I took a long sip of my drink, and was glad that it was something strong.

"That was the plan." Loki smiled.

Tony scoffed.

"Not a great plan," He moved down another set of steps, moving closer to Loki. I followed quickly behind him, and moving to his side.

"When they come, and they will, they'll come for you." Tony pointed to Loki with a finger, his hand still holding his drink.

"I have an army," Loki quickly cut in, still (I think) trying to convince himself.

"We have a hulk!" I scoffed, and shook my head. A hulk can beat an army, anytime.

"I thought the beast had wandered off." Loki smirked, motioning with his staff.

"You're missing the point," Tony started. "There's no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes, and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on _you_," Tony said.

"Because if we can't protect the earth you can be damn sure we'll avenge it." He finished, taking a large gulp of his drink.

Loki stalked forward, like a cat about to pounce its prey. Afraid that his prey would be Tony, I moved in between them, trying to prevent violence. I knew that it would come, but I was hoping to delay it for as long as possible.

"And how will they have time for me, when they're so busy fighting _you_?" He asked, venom dripping from his words. My eyes widened, and I tried to block Loki, but he tossed me to the floor. I watched in horror as Loki lifted his staff to Tony's chest, grinning madly.

There were tears in my eyes as I waited for Tony to become a monster like Clint had been, but the staff's blue glue disappeared when it hit his chest. Loki's smile immediately turned into a frown. He lifted the staff to his chest again, but the same thing happened.

"This usually works…" He said, frowning. Tony couldn't help but to take the opening Loki gave him, and spoke up.

"Well, performance issues are not uncommon: one out of five-" He was cut off by Loki grabbing him by his throat, nearly lifting him off of the floor and moving him towards the window.

"_No_!" I screamed, and threw myself at them. I tried to pry his hands off of Tony, but damn it, he was strong. Loki threw Tony to the floor, and he slid a couple of feet before coming to a stop.

"Tony!" I yelled, and rushed to his side. I gently touched his face, making sure there was no permanent damage. Tony just shook me off, pushing me to the side to make sure I was safe from Loki.

"JARVIS, anytime now…" He muttered. Loki came around to him again, and lifted him up by his throat once again.

"Mortal fool!" He spit at him.

"Deploy, deploy!" Tony shouted at JARVIS as he was promptly thrown out of the window. I screamed, and was about to look out of the window, when I turned and saw something being shot out. It was going to hit me, and probably knock me out of the window, but something heavy slammed into me, bringing me down to the floor and out of the item's way.

"Oof!" The wind was temporarily knocked out of me, and I saw stars. When my eyes became focused, they landed on Loki, who was on top of me and staring down at me with a strange look in his eyes.

We were silent for a long time, before the situation finally sunk in, and I put my hands on his chest and pushed him off of me. I stood, and raced to the window, trying to see Tony. I looked and looked, but he was too far down for me to see anything.

I cried out and stepped back as Tony suddenly shot up past me, aiming his hands at Loki.

"And there's one other person you pissed off," He said.

"His name is Phil."

Loki raised his staff to shoot at Tony, but Tony got his hand up first, and shot at him. Loki flew backwards, his staff flying out of his hands as he hit the floor. At the same time, there was a loud sound, and I could tell that the portal had opened. Damn it!

Tony looked over at me, then at Loki, then back at me.

"He's all yours, Sammie darling…" He said before flying off to fight the Chitauri that were now pouring out of the portal in the sky. I looked over at Loki, who was just now getting up, and groaned.

This ought to be fun…

**! #$%^**

**A/N: So I'm having a sort of poll. I'm going to keep writing this story, but I want to try something else. Something different, but still in the Avengers category. Tell me what type of pairing you want to see done, whether it be something with an OC, or with characters already established. I'll write almost anything, so just let me know (in either a review or a PM) what you want me to write. Thanks guys! It would mean a lot to me.**

**Sara**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and for all of your input about my new story! Anyways, a lot of this chapter is touchy feely stuff between Loki and Samantha, about them getting all of their feelings out, most likely in a screaming match. Well, here it is; the next chapter of Complicated. **

**! #$%^**

I crossed my arms over my chest, watching silently as Loki struggled to get up. He didn't look to be badly harmed, just some minor scratches, all of which he probably deserved. No. He didn't _probably_ deserve it, he _did_ deserve it. I needed to stop being so nice to him. What did _he_ ever to for me that was _nice_? All he ever did was _ruin_ my life!

I walked over to where he was still struggling to get up off of the floor, and held out a hand. Loki looked at it for a second, trying to decide whether or not to accept it, before finally taking it. Once he was up, I let go of his hand, and did something I never thought I would do.

I pulled my hand back, and punched a god in the face.

Loki practically flew to the side from the power packed in the punch, and I didn't feel sorry for him at all. My hand was hurting, but I knew that all of the pain was worth it. And I couldn't help but feel a small sense of satisfaction when I saw him rubbing his sore jaw.

"That was for Clint." I spat at him.

For a second there, I almost cracked at seeing Loki's seemingly broken expression, but then flashes of my brother being under his control passed through my mind, and images of Phil speaking his last words haunted my consciousness.

I just barely kept my cool, and instead of punching him again, I shoved him as hard as I could. This time, however, he barely moved an inch. Damn him and his stupid god strength…

"Samantha…" He spoke my name, and just the way he said it sent cold shivers down my spine. How could he _do_ that to me? _How_? I straightened my back, and tried to sound confident.

"No," I said. "You don't get to _do_ this to me! You don't get to come into my life and stomp around on my feelings like this. Ever since you popped into my life, it has been nothing but a _living hell_ for me! You killed people I worked with; you took over my _brother's mind_! You don't care about anyone else but yourself and your stupid mission! God damn you, Loki!" I was yelling by this point, and tears were threatening to spill over.

"And _why_? What sick satisfaction do you get from seeing me _break_ like this?" I whispered, trying to stay calm, but failing horribly. I couldn't do this. The tears fell, and I tried to hold in the sobs.

Loki frowned and moved closer to me, holding a hand to my cheek. I leaned into his hand, amazed at how his touch made me feel so much better. Realizing what I was doing, I slapped his hand away with unnecessary force. He looked down at the floor for a few moments, then back up at me.

"I get no satisfaction from seeing you in pain, Samantha." He said like it was the simplest thing in the world. As if asking me why I could have ever thought it up in the first place, it was that absurd. I grimaced, and backed away from him, moving across the room.

"How do you _do_ that? _Manipulate_ me? How can you crawl into my _head_ and say all of these things, make me feel like I would _die_ for you, and then claim to have _no_ attachment to me at _all_!" My voice rose in volume, partially because of the sounds of battle blaring outside of the Tower, and partially because I was getting very, _very_ angry.

Loki shook his head, and tilted his head.

"Have I ever told you, or anyone else, that I had no attachment to you?" He asked.

I screamed in frustration.

"There you go again, Loki! You make _me_ feel _horrible_, you make _me_ feel _sorry_ for yelling, and above all, you make it seem like _I'm_ the bad guy here!" I shouted.

Loki shook his head at me.

"You could never be the villain, Samantha. You're far too good for that. Too pure to ever attempt to be the 'bad guy' in any situation," He crossed, moving towards the opposite side of the room, his back to me.

I tried to stop it, but I could help but blurt it out.

"Pure? How the hell am I _pure_?" I laughed, and shook my head. There was no way that I was _pure_; I was the _opposite_ of that, if he hadn't noticed by now. I mean, I was brash and bold, stupid and quick to anger. I thought with my fists, and didn't care about the consequences. I was even childish and naïve. How did any of that equal _pure_ in his mind?

"You are… my _light_ in the middle of all this _darkness_. Cliché, I realize, but what other phrase could I use to describe you?" He spoke, and gazed at me with such intensity that I nearly cried out.

"You are the most beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on, you are braver than any sane being should be, and more than capable to understand me and what I have been through. Never have I met someone who would take me in with such open arms, even after I destroyed their life more than once. You were able to understand my feelings, able to forgive me for my multitude of sins, and after all of the things I have put you through," He looked up at me, and I could see him puzzling over something.

"You loved me." He said, and was still looking at me like I was some sort of mystery. I blushed slightly under his stare, and looked away.

"Yeah, well, I don't want to," I glanced over at him. "I want to make that very clear to you right now. I don't want to love you. I want to hate you, I want to be able to look at you and see a monster who murdered more of my friends than I can bear to count," I said.

Loki nodded, understanding.

"I do not wish to feel this way, either. If I had my way, I would be able to look at you and see a foolish mortal whose life I could throw away without a second thought." He said, pondering over his words after he spoke them.

I pulled a strand of my light brown hair behind my ears, and studied him as he stared at the ground. His long black hair was stilled slicked behind his head, and his beautiful green eyes were flickering back and forth between something on the floor.

"But is that really true?" I asked him, knowing that he didn't really wish to be this way. "Maybe there's a part of you that wants to be the man you were before you were twisted into _this_. I know that all you want is to be loved. By your father. By Thor. By anyone, really. You just wanted someone to notice you," I spoke.

Loki looked over at me, startled by my words.

"Well, Loki, you have everyone's attention now," I held out my hands. "_Everyone's_ focused on you, and they sure as hell don't feel any love for you. But Thor still loves you; your father still loves you. Hell, I still love you. You have all these people who would be by your side, if you didn't do all of these _awful_ things!" I said, trying to make him realize that he didn't need to do any of this to make people love him.

Loki looked down at the floor once again, thinking over my words.

"It's too late now," He finally spoke up, nodding his head. He glanced up at me, his stare boring into my own.

"And I wouldn't have it any other way."

I took in his words, and knowing that nothing I said would make him change his mind, I nodded back at him.

"Alright," I said, walking towards him. He looked down at me, and gulped. I couldn't tell if he was nervous, or just upset.

I didn't care.

I reeled back my hand, and punched him hard in the face once again.

Loki didn't fly back as far this time, as some part of him was probably expecting the blow to happen, but god damn it, it better have hurt!

"That one was for Phil…"

I shot him one last look, and headed for the elevator, ready for anything.

**A/N: Okay, so I know that it's a short chapter, but I wanted to get it out as soon as possible. I should have the next chapter out soon-ish, but with school and all, I'm not too sure. Anyways, what pairing should I use for my next story? I've gotten some Steve/OC requests, and some Hawkeye/OC requests. Any other pairing you guys want to see? Just let me know!**

**-Sara**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and know that your kind words have inspired me to continue this story. Let me know what you guys think about this one, hopefully it's better than the last! Thanks guys!**

**! #$%^**

As soon as I was out of the building, my eyes widened at the damage done to the city. The battle had started not even twenty minutes ago, and already the city was in ruin. I cursed under my breath, and decided to contact my brother to see what the hell was happening.

"Clint? What's going on up there?" I asked, taking off towards where all the action seemed to be. There was the crackle of the other line picking up, and then Clint spoke.

"Well, it looks like Thor's taking on Loki. Gonna see if we can help him out…" He said. I looked back at the top of Stark Tower to see his jet hovering nearby where I assumed Loki and Thor were fighting, but it was waaay too far up for me to tell. I felt a twinge of fear for Loki, but quickly shook it off. He chose his side, and I chose mine. No going back now.

"Damn it! We're hit!" I heard Clint shout, and immediately back looked up to see the aircraft falling from the sky. I blanched, and used all of my muscle power to sprint to where they landed.

"Clint? Natasha? Steve?" I gasped out as I ran. Come on, come on! Answer God damn it! "Clint! Answer me!" I shouted, still running. There was silence, before the crackle of static came on once again.

"It'll take more than a god to bring me down, Sammie," He responded. I nearly cried out in relief as I took in his voice. I shook my head, and couldn't help but smile at my brother. Clint would always be Clint.

"I'm heading towards you, Clint. Be there in a second," I huffed out.

Thankfully I was in pretty good shape, what with me becoming an Agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. and everything, so I made it to them relatively quick without being too exhausted. I met up with the three of them, and stared up at the portal, where the aliens kept pouring out like an angry hoard of bees. Just then, a giant monstrosity of an alien came out, looking bigger than a skyscraper! How in the hell were we supposed to fight _that_?

It flew right above us, and we stared in a horrified awe at the sheer size of it. It kept on shooting out aliens onto the buildings, who clung to the walls and let out battle cries.

"Stark, do you see this?" Steve asked, staring at all of the hostiles.

"Seeing, still working on believing," Tony said, his voice showing all types of emotions. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?" He asked.

"Bruce?" I asked, the surprise evident in my voice. Bruce was still lost, and I doubt that he would be able to make it in time for this battle.

"Just keep me posted." Tony said, and signed off. We moved behind an abandoned taxi, looking around and trying to figure out our next move.

"I've got civilians trapped right by you," Tony said, and we all peered over the car to see a bunch of civilians running around like startled ants.

"Loki…" Steve said, nearly spitting the name. We watched as Loki sped through on one of the speeders, we watched as he shot down and killed so many people.

"They're fish in a barrel down there," Steve pointed out. I shot out of my hiding spot and sent off three shots at the aliens that were flying around, and was pleasantly surprised when two of them dropped from the sky. Damn it, I was pretty good!

I smiled, and moved next to Clint, who was eyeing a couple of aliens who fell to the ground not too far away from us. Natasha looked over at Steve, who obviously wanted to help the civilians out.

"We got this. We're good; _go_," She said.

"Go get 'em Steve," I shooed him with one hand. Steve hesitated and held back, worrying about us.

"Think you can hold them off?" He asked, looking at the aliens, then to the citizens. Clint smirked, and spoke.

"Captain," He set up his arrows, his high tech bow switching to a different set of arrowheads. "It would be my genuine pleasure."

With that, he shot up from his position and sent off an arrow which hit an alien in the head. The arrow set off a chain reaction, and sent other arrows into the heads of three other enemies. Damn, my brother was _awesome_! Steve took off, and I shot a couple more aliens, each of my bullets hitting their marks. Some of my brother's skill must have been in me, because I never missed. Or maybe it was the adrenaline pumping through my veins, I didn't know for sure.

As soon as he was gone, I pointed out a bus with trapped people inside.

"The door's stuck," I said, and Clint and I rushed to help them. We helped a little boy and a few other people off, and then pried the doors open for the rest of the civilians, who ran off to safety. If there was a safe place in New York, that was.

We moved back to Natasha's side, and began firing at every alien we could see.

"Just like Budapest all over again!" Natasha shouted to Clint, whose eyes widened as he shook his head.

"You know I remember Budapest _very_ differently," He said, looking around. I followed his gaze and realized that the Chitauri were coming up from behind us. We were surrounded.

"Well, this should get interesting…" I muttered, and launched myself at a Chitauri who got a little too close to Clint for my liking. I wrapped my leg around its neck, holding myself up on top of it before bringing my gun to its temple and shooting it straight through the head. I jumped off before it fell to the ground, and wiped sweat away from my brow.

"Where did you learn all of these moves, Sammie?" Clint asked as he sent an arrow at another alien. I smirked, and sent him a pointed look.

"I learned from one of the best,"

He smiled over at me, before we resumed our fighting. I mostly abandoned my gun for now, seeing as all the hostiles were in hand to hand combat range, but I shot off a few rounds here and there.

There was a clang of metal on metal, and I looked over to see that Steve had joined us once again. We stood together, and were about to continue fighting when half of the Chitauri in front of us were electrified, and fell to the ground, lifeless.

Thor landed in front of us, his eyes showing more pain than I could imagine one person going through. He stumbled a bit, but was able to walk over to us without a problem.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked, and I listened in intently.

"The barrier is up, and the cube is impenetrable," He said.

"Thor's right. We have to deal with these guys," Tony cut in, talking about the Chitauri. I held back a groan. How long could we keep this up?

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked, clearly wondering the same thing I was.

"As a team." Steve said.

Thor shook his head.

"I have unfinished business with Loki," He said. I let out a laugh, not believing what he just said.

"Yeah? Get in line," Clint and I spoke at the same time. He looked over at me, raising an eyebrow. Steve shook his head at us.

"Save it. Loki's going to keep the fight focused on us, and that's what we need. We've got Stark up top, he's going to lead us to-"

He trailed off as we heard the sounds of a motorcycle. We turned around to see Bruce riding a shabby looking vehicle, smiling uncertainly at us. He got off, and walked towards us.

"So… this all seems… horrible," He said, holding out his hands at the mess surrounding us. Natasha looked him up and down, and spoke.

"I've seen worse," She said.

Bruce raised his eyebrows.

"Sorry…"

"No, I mean we could use a little worse," She clarified. I walked up to Bruce and clapped him gently on the back.

"Good to see you, Bruce," I smiled, and he nodded back at me.

"Stark, we've got him. Banner, just like you said," Steve spoke to Tony.

"Good," He said, and I backed away from Bruce, knowing what was going to come next.

"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you,"

Stark came around the corner of a building in front of us, and the giant alien thing came crashing after him. All of the color drained from my face, and I moved closer to Clint, clutching his hand like I used to when we were kids.

"I don't see how that's a party…" Natasha shook her head in disbelief.

The giant Chitauri flew low to the ground, knocking down almost everything in its path. Bruce started walking towards it, smiling slightly.

"Dr. Banner, now might be a really good time for you to get angry." Steve advised.

Bruce only smiled.

"That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry."

He turned around and Hulked out, growing to more than twice his size and turning very, _very_ green. He brought up a fist, slamming into the Chitauri, bringing it down with the sheer force of his punch. It skidded, and then started flipping over.

"Hold on!" Tony shouted, and shot explosives into the newly exposed flesh of the giant. Natasha and I hid behind Steve's shield, and I was nearly knocked to the ground from the blast. I stood up and was nearly deafened by the cries of all the Chitauri, probably surprised that we managed to bring down such a mighty beast.

The seven of us stood back to back in a small circle, me with my two guns drawn and ready to fire. I caught Clint's eye, and smiled at him.

"Let's kick some serious ass!" I shouted, and Tony laughed.

"I'm right behind you, Sammie darling."

"All of us are." Steve smiled down at me, and for the first time, I knew that this was where I was always meant to be. Even if we _were_ fighting to save the world from the man I loved.

**A/N: Okay, another short chapter, but I got it out as soon as I could. The next chapter will be longer, I swear!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hey guys, you still with me? Reviews make my day and inspire me to write more! Anyways, I'm not too good at action scenes, so bear with me here. This story WILL continue after the movie part is over, and there might even be a sequel in store. Well, if you WANT a sequel, that is. DO you want a sequel? Let me know in a review, my little Loki lovers :D Oh! I started writing this chapter yesterday and finished at 1:25 in the morning. It's 5,554 words long: my longest yet! Don't forget to check out the poll on my profile! It'd mean a lot to me!**

**! #$%^**

I was feeling pretty confident with everyone standing beside me, but as soon as I felt semi-good about the situation we were in, Natasha called out to us, ruining the badass-ness of the moment.

"Guys," She said, and we turned to face where she was staring. Two more of the giant Chitauri came out of the portal, looking just as fierce as ever. I sighed, and shook my head.

"Can't anything ever be easy?"

"Ah, but where's the fun in that?" Tony joked, before switching into a more serious gear.

"Call it, Captain." He spoke to Steve, knowing that he would be able to position us in several ideal places to take down all of the aliens.

"Alright, listen up," Steve said, facing the portal and mentally laying out the battlefield. "Until we can close the portal, we'll use containment. Barton," He called out, and both Clint and I walked closer to him. He looked at us, and then shook his head at me, motioning me back

"_Clint_, I want you up on that rooftop, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays," Steve said, and Clint nodded at the Captain. I stepped back a little, and waited for Steve to continue with his planning.

"Stark, you've got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out; you turn it back, or turn it to ash." Steve pointed with his fingers. Clint took my hand in his, and squeezed it in a silent goodbye. I smiled back at him, finding comfort in his familiar blue eyes.

"Give me a lift?" Clint asked, and Tony nodded his helmeted head.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Tony quipped, before grabbing my brother and flying off.

I smirked, and turned back to Steve. He looked over at Thor.

"Thor, you've got to try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You've got the lightning; light the bastards up."

Thor nodded, and swung his hammer around in a circle, before taking off towards the portal. That left me, Natasha, and the Hulk. Natasha and I stepped forward, and Steve nodded at the both of us.

"The three of us are going to keep fighting here," He said.

I smiled. This should be interesting. Let's see if I can keep up my fighting skills.

"And Hulk?" Steve said, finally mentioning Banner. He stared at the green giant in front of him for a few seconds, before a small grin crept over his features.

"Smash."

Just like that, the Hulk took off, jumping onto a building and picking up an alien in his massive green hand. He leapt to the building across from the one he was on, swinging around and smashing every alien he could see.

I couldn't help it.

"That is so _awesome_!" I squealed, and jumped up like an excited little girl. I suppose that I _was_ an excited little girl, but hey! I was an excited little girl with a _gun_.

So there.

It started to dim a little bit, and I looked up to see clouds in the sky above us, and lightning shooting out from a tall skyscraper. That was Thor, then. It must have worked, because many of the aliens fell from the sky, landing down onto the streets below.

I looked up to the building a few blocks down and on my left, and faintly saw my brother shooting arrows at any Chitauri that passed by him. I smiled, and followed by his example, taking out my guns and shooting at every passing alien.

I felt a Chitauri grab me from behind and lift me into the air by my shirt, choking me. It must have thought that it had the upper hand in the situation. I smiled knowingly and threw my legs back, wrapping them around his neck. I swung down and hit the floor, but not without bringing the alien with me, snapping its neck in the process.

I got up, and turned to the next one that popped up, sliding down between its legs and getting up, bringing the butt of my gun down on its head. I could hear what must have been its skull cracking, and it fell lifelessly to the floor.

I quickly wiped the sweat off of my brow, and sent off a couple of rounds into five nearby aliens that got too close to Natasha. She sent a grateful look my way, and I watched as she took out another four by herself. I may have been good, but Natasha was the _Black Widow_ for God's sake! How could I compare to that?

Well, I may come semi-close, but who cares? All that mattered now was killing aliens, which was something I was pretty damn good at.

I let out a small battle cry, and launched myself at another Chitauri, using two of my knives to dig into its skin. It fell, and I turned to the next.

I was about to attack, but it turned out to be Steve.

I let out a sigh, and wiped the sweat and grime off of my face. Natasha was beside me, looking just as tired as I was. Her red hair had stayed in place relatively well, considering what we had all been through.

I couldn't say the same for my own hair, however, since I had light brown locks flying all over the place. I shook my head, and whatever was left of my ponytail fell out, leaving a halo of hair around my head. I smoothed it down as much as possible, but knew that it was the least of my problems right now.

Natasha and I leaned up against a taxi, breathing hard and trying to recover. My head fell, and my hand searched my body for any injuries. Besides a shallow gash on my left forearm, all I had were minor scratched and some pretty major bruises. Especially from when I slammed myself into the ground trying to get away from that Chitauri. Remind why I did that again?

"Captain, none of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal…" Natasha commented, looking up at where the Chitauri were still pouring out. They seemed to have an endless supply of aliens, and I couldn't help but think that Natasha was right.

"Stark's guns couldn't touch it," Steve said. I popped up with an idea, and looked over at Steve and Natasha, grinning.

"Well, maybe it's not about guns!" I suggested, and looked up at Stark Tower. I needed to get up there, and see if I could do something to get the portal closed.

Steve looked down at me, and I could tell what was going to come out of him mouth before he even opened it.

"No, absolutely _not_. You're not going up there. It's too dangerous!" He protested, and my eyes widened. Was Steve looking out for me? I didn't know he cared that much... But despite how touched I was by his gesture, I shook my head fiercely. I was going up there, no matter what he said.

"And this _isn't_, Steve? We need to find some way to close the portal, and this is our best shot! Please, Steve!" I begged him, reminding me of when I used to beg Clint to bring me back some chocolate chip cookies when he got home from a mission. They were always strict with their food in S.H.I.E.L.D., so I never got to pig out on cookies like normal kids did.

Steve shook his head.

"You're _what_? Twenty three, twenty _four_? You're too young; you'll get yourself k-"

"Captain," Natasha cut in, and I braced myself.

Natasha always had the meanest lectures ready for me whenever I complained about not being able to go on missions. She always told me how I wasn't ready, and that all I'd do is compromise the mission. Instead, however, she caught me by surprise.

"She's ready."

With those two words, my world seemed to come to a standstill. Did _Natasha_ just tell Steve that I was ready for a suicide mission? _Natasha_? Dear God.

I gaped at her, trying to understand where she was coming from. I was about to say something when she spoke up.

"I'm sorry for before, when I… _chastised_ you," She said.

I grimaced, and thought back to the time where she called me out on getting too close to Loki, the enemy. I was in the middle of talking to Loki when she pulled me out, beyond angry with me.

**! #$%^**

_"Loki, I don't exactly know why, but I think I feel the same way." I said. He stared at me, trying to see if I was telling the truth. But I knew that I could never lie to him, even if I wanted to._

_ I was about to say something else, but footsteps made me look up._

_ It was Natasha._

_ I frowned, and stood up as she made her way over to me. She grabbed my arm roughly, and pulled me towards the door. I looked back as I was dragged out of the door, and saw Loki still sitting there, his eyes following me as I was taken away like a child._

_ Once we were a few hallways away from Loki, Natasha looked at me, and let go of my arm._

_ "What the__hell__do you think you're doing?" She asked, trying not to shout. I frowned, and rubbed at my arm, which was starting to throb._

_ "What are you talking about?" I asked, not knowing why she was so upset._

_ "You know damn well what I'm talking about! What are you doing, spending all your time in there with Loki? And saying that you__like__him? He's__using__you, Samantha!" She said._

_ I held up my hands, stopping her._

_ "Wait, what do you mean,__using__me? Loki is__not__using me!" I tried to defend him. Who was she to just go out and attack him like that? She didn't know him like I did!_

_ "Sam,__think__about it. He's the God of Lies and Mischief, there's__no way__he's not using you. He's an expert at lying, and did you really think he'd actually tell you his whole life's story? He's trying to get you on his side, to turn you against us!" She said, starting to yell now._

_ I started to get angry right then. Who was she to judge him? She didn't know him, so why should she judge?_

_ "You don't__understand__him like I do! There's no way someone like__you__could ever understand us!" I screamed. Natasha was getting angry, and I had never seen her angry before. She always kept a lid on her emotions, knowing that they only got in the way, but right now she was__angry__._

_ Natasha went completely still, and I stopped breathing, getting a little scared right about now._

_ "Someone like me? Well, someone like me knows a hell of a lot more than a little girl like you. No wonder Clint never had time for you; you act like a child. And you are a child I have no more time for. So go ahead and play make believe with your little God. But if you side with him, if you become compromised, I will not hesitate to take you down and kill you."_

_ Natasha gave me one last glare, before turning on her heel and walking down the hall._

**! #$%^**

I shivered as I remembered her cold glare as she threatened to kill me. Honestly, I have probably never been more scared in my life than I had been in that moment. Natasha could be pretty damn scary when she wanted to be, so the fact that she was actually apologizing for being that way meant it was pretty special to me.

I held out a hand to her, showing that I accepted. She took it, but instead of shaking it, I pulled her in for a giant hug. She was shocked, and was still for a few moments. I was about to pull away, but she returned the hug, if only so slightly.

I pulled back and smiled at her.

"Look, if I die, my last request is for you to go and kiss my brother senseless. Okay?"

I smirked at her shocked expression, but was quickly distracted by Steve, who chose right _now_ to intervene, of all the times that he could have stepped in.

"If you want to get up there, you're going to need a ride," He said, and my smirk only grew. I backed away from them, and looked up at the Chitauri who kept flying overhead.

"I got a ride." I said, staring pointedly at the vehicles above us. I looked back at Steve. "I could use a boost, though."

Steve backed away from me, and held his shield steady.

"You sure about this?" He asked, and not just about the boost, but about everything.

"Don't worry so much Steve. This is going to be fun." I smiled, looked up at the sky, and launched myself forward.

I sprinted as quickly as I could, and jumped up onto a nearby car, and then vaulted onto Steve's shield. I bent my knees, and pushed up with all of my might. With both my powerful jump and Steve's colossal push, I shot up into the air, holding up a single arm.

When my fingers connected to the edge of the alien's aircraft, I clutched onto whatever hold I could get with all of my might. I flipped over, and held on with both of my hands. I quickly found out that this was going to be much harder than I had originally thought, and I tried to pull myself up onto the platform, using all of the muscle strength I had in order to do it.

I finally got my knees up onto the platform, and steadied myself. I grabbed a knife from my boot, and sliced the chain that was holding one of the aliens to the aircraft. I kicked its feet out from underneath it, and it flew off of the vehicle, but not before it dug something sharp deep into my side. I cried out, and put my hand to my wound. It was pretty deep, and there was a lot of blood, but I'd live.

I shook it off, and held onto the sides of the craft for dear life, slowly pulling myself closer to the alien driving the thing. I launched myself up and onto the Chitauri, digging my knives into its shoulders. It screeched, but did not fight back as I landed on top of it.

I moved my knives to the left, trying to get the Chitauri to steer.

"Okay, turn!" I shouted, and nearly cried out as we headed straight for a building. "_Turn_!" I screamed, and it finally turned left. Just in the nick of time, too.

I steadied myself once again, and looked down at my stab wound. It was still bleeding profusely, but I knew that I had to get to Stark Tower before anything happened. I panicked a little bit as another Chitauri vehicle came up next to me, ready to attack my own. I was about to freak out when Tony flew up beside me, shooting down the stray Chitauri, before flying off in another direction.

"What would you do without me, Princess?" I heard him ask over the communication line. I smiled, and let out an exhilarated yell, trying to get out some of my pent up adrenaline.

"You're my knight in shining red and gold armor, Tony. Now we just need a noble steed, and a castle to run away to, and we're all set!" I said, laughing to myself.

"Well, we've got Stark Tower, or what's left of it, actually. Don't really know about the steed part, though. I'll ask JARVIS about that later," He said, and I could practically _see_ his smirk.

I shook my head, and steered the Chitauri vehicle towards Stark Tower. I was getting close, but gasped as a streak of blue light shot past me. I looked behind me to see something that made my blood freeze cold in my veins.

It was Loki, _shooting_ at me.

I stared at him for a long time, before I realized that I still had to steer.

"I guess we really did choose our sides…" I whispered to myself as I dodged another ray of blue light. Getting angry, I carefully flipped him the bird. I didn't know if he knew what that meant, but I hope to God he somehow picked up on my anger.

Even though we chose our sides, and agreed to fight against each other, I never expected _this_. What happened to the Loki that was spouting out loving phrases not more than an hour ago? Shaking my head, I continued dodging, and subtly headed towards my brother, hoping he would be able to get Loki off of my tail. I couldn't get to Stark Tower if Loki was after me.

"Clint!" I screamed into the communicator, and Clint immediately picked up.

"Sammie, what the _hell_ are you doing?"

Yup. Got to love my dear old brother. I smiled, but gasped as a shot of blue light got a little too close for comfort.

"A little help would be _much_ appreciated!" I shouted, and steered towards Clint, giving him a clear shot at Loki.

"I got him." He said, and I looked back just in time to see him send off an arrow straight at Loki's face. I watched, amazed, as Loki simply reached up and caught the arrow with one hand. He looked at the arrow, then back at Clint, and smiled.

What I was not expecting, was for it to blow up.

I winced as the whole chariot exploded, sending Loki flying onto a platform on Stark Tower. I immediately felt myself wanting to check up on him, but I knew that the saving the world came first. I saw the top of the Tower coming up, and knew that I needed to get off.

I breathed in deeply, before jumping backwards off of the chariot, falling down about two meters. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact, but I didn't fully expect the pain that now radiated from my side. My stab wound was throbbing, and landing on my side didn't help that at all. I felt the blood still flowing down my uniform, but tried to shake it off.

I groaned, and held back tears. The pain was atrocious, but I couldn't let it show. I _couldn't_.

Saving the world came first.

I slowly got up onto my knees, the tears now falling freely as I fought the pain. Once I was up, the pain got a little bit better, and I walked carefully towards the machine that held open the portal.

"The scepter." I heard a voice say from behind me, and I whipped around to face my next enemy, who actually turned out to be Dr. Selvig. I sighed, and relaxed my defensive stance. He was lying close to the edge of the building, and staring up at me with his light blue eyes.

"Doctor?" I asked, and headed over to him to make sure he was alright. He waved me off, and continued talking.

"Loki's scepter, the energy from it,"

At seeing my confused expression, he continued explaining.

"The Tesseract can't _fight_," He said. "You can't protect against yourself."

"Dr. Selvig," I gasped out. "It's not your fault. You didn't, _ah_, didn't know what you were doing." I winced, and held a hand to my side.

"Well, actually, I think I did," He spoke, his words sparking something in me. "I built in a safety to cut the power source."

Realization dawned on my face as I took in his words, as I made sense of what he was trying to tell me.

"Loki's scepter." I whispered, nodding my head in agreement.

"It may be able to close the portal," He looked over the side of the building, staring at something.

"And I'm looking right at it."

I knelt down and shuffled over to the side of the building. I smiled softly as I took in the sight of the familiar weapon. I sighed, and stood up, offering Dr. Selvig a hand.

"Thanks Doctor. For everything," I said, and took off for the stairs. I ran down as quickly as I could with my wound, and was about to sprint to the scepter when I saw Loki lying in a pile of rubble, in a hole in the floor.

His eyes were staring up at the ceiling, and for a second I was afraid that he might have been badly hurt, but on closer inspection I noticed that he was probably just really_, really _sore. The Hulk must have done it, because nothing else would be fighting against Loki with that kind of force.

I quickly grabbed the scepter, and fled upstairs again. There would be time to check up on Loki later, but right now I had to close that portal. I made my way up to the top of the Tower once again, and showed the scepter to Dr. Selvig.

"Are you sure that this is going to work?" I asked, making sure that this wasn't all for nothing. He nodded, and looked over at the machine.

"I'm almost one hundred percent positive. I made sure to install the back up when I was controlled by Loki. Some small part of me must have still known what I was doing." Selvig said.

His words struck something in me. When the S.H.I.E.L.D. base was falling out of the sky, and I fought with Clint, he had the chance to kill me, but instead shot the wall next to me. The same sort of thing must have happened to Dr. Selvig when he put in the backup plan for the Tesseract.

I nodded, and held out my hand, wiping the ruby red blood off of it first.

"Thank you." I said, and smiled as he shook my hand. He returned the smile, and we both paused to catch our breath before setting up everything. Selvig opened up his laptop, and motioned towards the barrier.

"Right at the crown!" He said.

I held the scepter tight in my hands, and pointed it at the machine. I moved it forward, and t pushed through the barrier without a problem. I held it there, and contacted everyone else through the communication network.

"I can close it! Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!" I shouted, getting excited that I might finally be able to end this. It would be over soon.

"Do it!" I heard Steve shout out from the other line, but another voice quickly cut him off.

"No, wait!" Tony spoke. I furrowed my brows, and shook my head.

"Tony, these things are still coming!" I said, not understanding why he wouldn't want to close the portal. We were so close, yet he wanted to delay it. What was his reasoning?

"Yeah, but we got a nuke coming in, and it's going to blow in less than a minute." He said.

Oh.

That would be why.

A _nuke_? In _New_ _York_? A heavily populated city, and they were just going to blow it all up? What the hell were they thinking, anyways? I mean, we could have handled it without the need for a huge explosion!

"And I know just where to put it…" Tony muttered.

My world seemed to stop, and I nearly dropped the scepter from my shock.

"What?" I whispered, my heart skipping a few beats. "Tony, _no_!" I shouted, horrified that he would even think about that. I mean, there had to be some other way to get rid of the nuke, right?

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip." Steve said on the other line, making sure Tony was really ready to do this. I shook my head rapidly back and forth.

"Tony, _please_ don't do this!" I begged him, but the other line was completely silent. I wanted to scream, to shout, but I knew that I didn't have enough energy to do that. I would barely be able to close the portal, what with my side still bleeding heavily.

I watched from afar as Tony sped towards the portal, moving the nuke up so that it was facing beyond the portal. He cut it close in not hitting the building, and I cried out as he flew up above me. My eyes watered, and I didn't know if it was because of the pain or because of Tony.

He shot up into the sky, and through the portal, and I could see him no longer.

I stood there, silent, waiting for some sign of him coming back through the other side. He was Tony freaking Stark for Christ's sake! He couldn't not come back! He would make it, I was positive!

I waited and waited, but there was no sign of him.

Suddenly, there was an explosion form beyond the portal that I could hear from here, and I watched as red and orange tried to come out of the portal. The remaining Chitauri dropped from the sky, their power gone.

I knew that I should have been happy, but all I could think about was Tony.

"_Please_…" I begged quietly to whatever God was up there. Just let him be okay. Still there was nothing, and the explosion was getting closer to coming out of the portal.

"Close it." Steve said, and my world itself seemed to come to an absolute end.

Every instinct in my body told me to keep it open, to wait until Tony came flying out, but I knew that I had to put my feelings behind me.

_Saving the world came first_.

And so I pushed the scepter as hard as I could into the Tesseract, forcing it past the barrier. I held it there for as long as I could, watching as the portal faltered, and then closed. I was about to burst into tears at any moment, but right then I caught sight of something falling from the sky. I tried to see if it was just another Chitauri, but we I saw that it was in the shape of a man, I cried out.

"Tony!" I sighed, more than relieved that he made it through.

He fell from the sky, but it wasn't him flying, he was just _falling_. Oh, God!

"He's not slowing down." I heard Thor say from the other line, and I panicked once again, letting go of the scepter and running the edge of the building to watch as he fell to the Earth. I was stuck in a horrified silence, and for once in my life, I could say nothing, just _pray_.

Right we I thought it was the end for him, the Hulk leapt into the sky and grabbed Tony's limp form, bringing him safely to the ground.

After that I couldn't see anymore, because of the buildings in the way, and so I listened to the other's words, trying to piece together what was going on.

"Come on, Tony!" Steve said.

"Stark…" Natasha whispered.

From what I was gathering, the situation did not seem good. I clutched at my side more fiercely now, as the pain was beyond agonizing.

"Tony!" I whispered, not believing that someone like him could really die. This was _Tony_, this was _my_ Tony. He couldn't be dead.

And then, from all the way over at the Tower, I heard the Hulk let out a mighty roar.

"Ah, ah!" I heard Tony gasp over the line, and I immediately fell to my knees, tears of both joy and pain pouring out of my light blue eyes.

"What the hell?" Tony asked, and I laughed softly, wincing at the sharp pain in my side. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"Damn it, Tony, I'd kiss you right now if I was there!" I said, smiling. Tony let out a short chortle.

"Well, let's be glad you're not here, then," He quipped, and I couldn't help but grin like an idiot. Ladies and gentleman, Tony was _back_!

"We won." Steve said.

"All right, hey! Alright, good job guys. Let's not come in tomorrow, let's just take a day. You ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it," Tony rambled on.

"We're not finished yet." Thor cut in and reminded us all of what came next.

Loki.

"And then shawarma after."

I nearly laughed, but stopped myself, knowing that it would only cause me more pain. I made sure Dr. Selvig was okay, and then made my ways down the stairs. I took them one at a time, gently, trying not to fall down with each step. I winced and grunted unattractively, but after a long while I made my way down the three flights of stairs to where Loki was, only to find all six of the other Avengers staring him down.

Clint was right in front of Loki, his bow drawn and pointed right in Loki's face. Loki shook his head softly.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."

Clint dropped his bow to the floor, pulled his arm back, then socked Loki straight in the face, much like I had done two times before.

"That was for my sister, you bastard." Clint spat at him and stood, wiping his hand on his pants. I laughed, which soon turned into a cough, and only then did my brother notice me standing off to the side. He froze, and turned pale.

"S-Sammie?" He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. The rest of the Avengers turned to face me, and I heard Tony and Natasha let out little gasps.

"Samantha?" Loki asked, his voice sounding startled.

Since everyone seemed so interested in what I looked like, I looked around, trying to find something to look at my appearance. I caught sight of something in a nearby window, and gasped.

My hair was standing up everywhere, and my clothes were soaked in blood. My whole side was _covered_ in blood, and it ran all the way down to my ankle. My ashen skin was so white you could hold a paper up to me and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and I looked like I was the living dead.

Oh.

My knees gave out right then, but Clint was there to catch me. My eyelids threatened to slip shut, but I tried to keep them open. Clint moved me so that my head was lying in his lap, and I nearly nodded off because it was so comfortable.

"Stay with me, sunshine!" I looked to my left to see Tony there, kneeling beside me. Everything was going numb, and I could no longer feel the pain, just the _numbness_. I didn't know which was worst. Loki had somehow crawled over to me and was keeping his distance, but was obviously distressed.

Looking around, I realized that everyone I loved was with me, or holding me. Tony was stroking my hair, and Clint was speaking frantically to me, his face looking young and afraid. Natasha and Steve stood together behind Tony, staring in disbelief, and the Hulk stood there silently . Loki just stared at me, his eyes playing through all the emotions he dared not let his face show.

It was a beautiful last sight, his gorgeous green eyes. I stared back at them, getting lost into the depths of those endless pools of light green.

I smiled once more, before my world was consumed by the blackness, and I could see no more.

**A/N: Ladies and Gentleman, we are almost done with the movie part of the plot! And yes, I will continue after the movie with a plot of my own, but I need a **_**little**_** bit of help. I am completely and utterly stuck on what Loki's punishment should be. If you guys have any ideas, they would be much appreciated! Oh, and let me know if you guys would read a sequel! If I write one, that is! Hee hee :D**

**-Sara**

**P.S.**

**To put it short, just tell me what you thought about the chapter, what Loki's punishment should be (if you want), and if I wrote a sequel: would you read it? And don't forget to check out my new poll on my profile!**

**Thanks guys!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter, and I'm glad everyone liked it, because I worked super hard on it! Anyways, this time we're going to try out using third person this time around, mainly because Sammie's not around, and I'd feel weird trying to do first person with someone else besides her. OH! Pleeeaaaasssseee check out the poll on my profile page, it'd mean a lot if you could just click and give me an answer to my question! It'll help me out a lot! Here's the next chapter :)**

**! #$%^**

Clint stared down at the limp body of his younger sister, his mind still desperately trying to wrap itself around what had happened in the past minute.

Just moments ago he had been aiming an arrow at Loki's skull, dreaming about letting it loose, and now he was holding the body of his baby sister in his lap. He looked down around them, to the blood that had fallen to the floor.

_There was so much blood…_

It was at that moment that Clint realized what needed to be done, and quickly held a hand over Samantha's stab wound, trying to slow down the blood. He looked up at the rest of the Avengers, who were standing by, unsure of how to help.

Dr. Banner moved next to Clint, pushing Tony gently out of the way, and looked her body over for her injuries. He lifted Clint's hand from the wound, before grimacing and quickly putting it back.

"Samantha needs to get to a hospital immediately. The stab wound is too deep, and she's already lost so much blood…" Bruce trailed off, staring intently at Sam before checking her pulse.

"What hospital is going to be able to take her in? With everything that's happened, I doubt anybody will be able to accept her in enough time." Clint said, going over every possible route in his mind, trying to find a solution that would work for Sam.

"We don't have a choice," Tony spoke up, his eyes looking blank, his expression unreadable. "It's her only chance." He said. Steve looked thoughtful for a moment, before speaking.

"There's a hospital right around the corner from here. It's the only one where we'll be able to get her to help in time. It's our only option…" He said, agreeing with Stark.

Clint nodded, and scooped his little sister into his arms, handing her gently over to Steve. He tucked a stray strand of her brown hair behind her ear, and blinked back his emotions. She would make it.

She had to.

"Get her there, and _fast_, Captain," Clint ordered. "I'm right behind you." He took off after Steve, leaving the rest to deal with Loki, who was still sitting on the floor, staring at the spot Samantha had just been in.

**! #$%^**

The hospital was crowded with the injured, but when they saw just _who_ was bringing Samantha in; they made an exception and took her back for immediate surgery. Clint kept Natasha up to date through their communications, and he reported back to Fury, letting him know that one of the team was critically wounded.

After everything was taken care of, he sat with Steve in the waiting room, waiting for news of any kind to reach them. They didn't know anything other than her injury was very serious, and that she might not survive past the surgery.

And when a nurse came out of the double doors and called out Samantha's name, the two men practically sprinted to the woman's side. The nurse didn't have any different news, however, but led them to another smaller room, where they sat for yet another hour, waiting for something to happen.

Clint was pacing furiously back and forth, hoping for a miracle, and Steve took to staring at the ceiling, making shapes out of the dots on the tiles. The more time it took, the more anxious the two of them got. Finally, after another hour, a new doctor came through the door with a clipboard in his hands.

"Doc?" Clint asked, rushing over to his side. Steve stood from his seat, and hoped that the doctor wasn't preparing one of his 'we did everything we could' speeches, and that he had some more positive news.

"She's stable, for now," He started with the most important information, and both of the uniformed men let out loud sighs of relief.

"However, with injuries like this, her health could change in the blink of an eye. She might be awake in two days, or she could worsen in less than one…" The doctor explained, and took in the other men's reactions carefully with his studious eyes.

Cling swallowed, before nodding slowly. Samantha was strong; she'd make it out of this. He knew that she would.

Steve nodded, thinking the same thing, and then motioned over to Clint.

"I've got to get back to the others to tell them the news, but I'll tell Natasha to come over to keep you company," Steve said, and left the room.

Once he was gone, Clint sighed, and sank back down into a chair, thinking about what he was going to do. He had just gotten Samantha back, and now it already felt like he lost her. He knew that she would be alright, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head, and he turned to the doctor.

"Can I see her?" He asked the man, who was still standing there with his clipboard. The doctor nodded, and motioned towards the door.

"Right this way," He said, and led Clint out of the room and down several different hallways before coming to yet another door. He nodded, and pointed at the doorway. Clint took a deep breath, and readied himself for what he was going to see.

He opened the door, and stepped into the room.

His eyes immediately found Samantha, as she was lying on a hospital bed, with all sorts of equipment attached to her.

She was still deathly pale, and her long brown hair fell in front of her face. Clint walked carefully closer to her, his eyes never leaving her fragile form. He raised a hand to her cheek, stroking it gently. He pulled a chair up to her bedside, sinking into it and grabbing her small hand in his own.

Seeing her like this, all of the life in her gone, it broke him.

Samantha was always full of light and happiness. Sure, sometimes she wasn't exactly the nicest person, but nothing ever got her down for long. She always got right back up, with a smirk on her young face. And now… now all of that was gone, and Clint couldn't handle it.

He bowed his head, and began to cry.

He didn't know how long he sat like that, the tears streaming down his face, but eventually he was aware of a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Natasha standing there with a grim smile. His heart immediately lifted, and his sadness seemed to lessen, if only a small amount.

He stared up at her for a long time, the tears still running down his face. If it were anyone else with him, he might have been embarrassed for crying, for showing any signs of weakness. But this was Natasha we were talking about, the Natasha who he had been through hell with, the one who had managed to steal his heart.

Clint knew that he didn't have to hide.

Not around her.

**! #$%^**

Time seemed to pass by quickly, and soon enough Clint was asked to leave so that they could check up on Samantha. He reluctantly let go of his sister's hand, placing it gently back onto the bed, and left the room, Natasha right there by his side.

His tears had dried by now, but the pain had not eased. But he knew that his sister was in good hands at the hospital, and that he was needed elsewhere. He and Natasha walked back to Stark Tower, where the rest of the team was keeping a watchful eye over Loki, just to make sure that he wasn't up to anything.

But as Clint watched him sit there, Loki didn't seem like much of a threat to anyone. His eyes were bloodshot, and he stared off into vacant space with a look that said that he wished something would just strike him down right then.

Clint would have been happy to do it for him, but they had all agreed to contact Fury to figure out what was to be done with the god. They all sat down in different spots, and Steve started up a communications channel with Fury.

"Director Fury, this is Captain Steve Rodgers reporting in," He said, and they all waited silently for a response.

"What is it, Captain? Any news on our Agent?" Fury asked.

"Agent Samantha Barton is stable for now, but we have no idea how she'll do in the future," Steve reported.

Clint smiled, and thought of how Sam would scoff if she heard Steve talking right now. Way too formal, is what she would have said. He winced, but quickly tried to shake off the pain, and tune back in to what was being said.

"She'll pull through. What about our _guest_?" He asked, talking about Loki.

Clint looked around the room for him, and saw him still sitting on the floor, with Thor right by his side. Loki had a relieved expression on his face, and Clint was disgusted to realize that the god might have actually _cared_ about his sister.

"Loki's here and taken care of,"

"And the Tesseract?"

Clint looked over at Thor, who held the Tesseract in his hands.

"It's secure," Steve said, and nodded at Thor, who was busy staring at Loki. Loki didn't seem to notice, as he was too busy staring off into space. Clint scoffed under his breath, and shook his head at the god. Who the hell did he think he was?

"Good. We'll move Loki tomorrow. Now if only we had a place to put the damn god…" Fury muttered, and Thor popped up with an idea.

"I shall return my brother to our home realm; Asgard," Thor said, and everyone else nodded in agreement. There was no place here on earth where we could keep him, but in a realm with other powerful gods, he'd be well guarded.

"Alright. And take the Tesseract with you. It's too dangerous to be kept here," Fury agreed.

Clint also thought it to be a good idea to keep the Tesseract out of any human's reach. Among gods it would be well protected, and away from the human's greedy hands.

"A job well done, team. You all deserve time off, so use it well. Fury out." He signed off, and the rest of the team looked around the room at each other, silently. About five minutes passed that way, with the six of them staring at each other expectantly.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry for some shawarma!" Tony quipped, and Clint's stomach couldn't help but agree.

"You're kidding, right?" Steve asked, but his smile said that he was looking forward to some shawarma as well.

"Nope. I'm changing out of this damn suit, and then I'm going to that shawarma place. Join me or not, I'm still eating that fucking shawarma," Tony said, walking out of the room.

The rest of the team looked at each other, and Clint couldn't help it; he started laughing. Maybe it was because of the trauma he'd been through, but he found the situation hilarious.

What he didn't expect, though, was for Bruce to join in. And Natasha, and Steve, and then even Thor started chuckling alongside the master assassin. Clint wiped his eyes, and shook his head.

Maybe, just maybe, things would be okay.

**! #$%^**

**A/N: Okay, so not my best work, but I wanted to get it out. Next chapter will have some of Sam's POV in it, and then the chapter after that should be getting back to normal. God, there's like only two chapters left before this story is over! Of course, there'll be a sequel, but still. I've put a lot of work into this, and I hope it shows. Before I go, could you guys please check out the poll on my profile? It would mean a lot to me! Samantha says to check out the poll :D You should listen to her! Alright guys, don't forget to review, and thanks so much for sticking to this story! Love you guys!**

**-Sara**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed my story, put it on their favorites list, and above all, thanks to those who reviewed. Before this story is over, I'd like to have 200 reviews! It'll be an all-time record for me, and we're so close; I know we can do it! And make sure to check out the poll on my page before you forget about it. Love you guys!**

**! #$%^**

**Sam's POV**

**! #$%^**

Everything was foggy.

It was like being in the middle of a large crowd, things are rushing past you, bumping into you, but you're left turning this way and that, trying to find something to save you from this _torture_. I didn't know what was going on: were my eyes open or shut?

Am I alive or dead?

I couldn't feel anything, yet flashes of pictures flew through my head, of Clint, of Natasha, of Loki.

_Loki_.

I think I'm supposed to be feeling something right now, but all I can feel is numbness. Like I'm not even here, just floating, drifting away….

Like a dream…

Or maybe it was more like dying. Was I dying? How could I be dying? I didn't remember anything, so it was very possible that I was dying and just couldn't remember anything. But was this really how I wanted to go out?

Like some old woman with Alzheimer's?

No. I couldn't go out like this.

I would hold on, hold on just for the simple fact that I was better than this. I couldn't feel anything, I was so numb, but I fought to hold on. Imagining that there was a bar, and ledge that I could hold onto. Maybe Clint and Natasha were up there, or maybe even Loki, but just _something_ to keep me here.

I would hold on.

For them.

**! #$%^**

**Third Person**

**! #$%^**

Clint was pacing back and forth across the room, worried out of his mind. He was still at Stark Tower, taking his shift for watching Loki. He was worried that something would happen while he was away. What if Samantha woke up, or what if she gets worse and he's not there?

Loki was staring at the wall, something he had taken to ever since they got back from shawarma. Loki had sat in a corner of the shop as the rest of the Avengers ate, many things on their minds. For most of them it was Samantha, and for others, it was Loki.

Clint thought that they should send Loki away sooner, since who knows what trouble he could cause while he was still here. I mean, he didn't seem that much of a threat right now, but looks had a way of being deceiving.

Natasha strode into the room, and Clint immediately stopped his pacing, walking over to her side. His eyes were bright as he waited for any new updates, but Natasha just smiled softly at him, shaking her head.

"She's fine. She's _been_ fine, and she will _continue_ to be fine. You need to stop worrying; it's not good for you," Natasha said, and rubbed his shoulder gently. Clint sighed, and nodded.

"Yeah. You're right. Worrying isn't going to help her get through this…" He said, and moved to walk across the room, back to his usual pacing spot. Natasha stepped forwards and grabbed his arm, spinning him back around.

"It's my turn to watch Loki. Thor's turn too,"

Just then, Thor ambled through the doorway, and smiled halfheartedly at the two agents. He made his way over to Loki, and sat down on the couch beside him. Clint nodded at Natasha, and began to leave the room.

"Wait."

That single word made his blood boil in his veins, and Clint whipped around to the source of the noise.

Loki was standing up, one arm outstretched towards him, a small frown on his face. He had been the one to speak. Clint seethed.

"I have nothing to say to you," He spat, and turned to leave the room. Loki took a step forward, and in a flash Natasha was there in front of him, a knife to his throat. He glanced down, and then quickly back up to Clint.

"I can heal her." Loki said.

Clint froze. He knew that Loki was powerful, but he was defeated, and wouldn't have nearly enough energy for the amount of power it would take to heal his sister. Loki was bluffing, he _had_ to be.

"What?" Clint asked, trying to sound uninterested, but failed miserably. He was desperate for something, anything to make his sister better, and if that came in the form of the god he hated most, so be it.

"I can heal her." Loki repeated. Natasha dropped the knife, and stepped back to Clint's side. Clint shook his head, trying to get rid of any thoughts of having Loki help. Sam would get better all on her own, and she needed no help from the man who had caused all of this.

"How?" Clint's voice betrayed him, and he turned to face Loki. He crossed his arms, and tried not to look as desperate as he felt.

Loki looked down at the floor, staring holes into the ground. Finally, he looked up at Clint, and swallowed.

"I have to see her," He said.

Clint laughed out loud at that, and shook his head.

"Yeah, _no_." He said, uncrossing his arms. There was no way in hell that he was going to let Loki into a room with his sister. He wasn't going anywhere _near_ her after what he's done.

Loki stepped forward, sending a glance over at Natasha to make sure that she wouldn't attack him. He wrung his hands, before speaking.

"It's the only way. You want her to recover from her wounds, as do I. I know that you are not fond of me, nor do you trust me, b-"

"Damn right." Clint muttered.

"But we _both_ care for her. I was hoping we might put aside our feelings, if only for a few minutes, so that I could heal her. Then I will return to Asgard and you will never have to hear from me again," Loki finished, and Clint couldn't help but think of how desperate Loki looked.

Maybe they _could_ put aside their feelings.

At least for a little bit.

Clint thought about it for a long time, about whether it would be worth it. If it worked then he wouldn't regret it one bit, but if Loki tried something, then Clint would never forgive himself. But if they didn't try it, Sam might not make it anyways.

This might be her only hope.

"Fine," He said, and Loki seemed to brighten almost immediately. "But I'm going to be in the room the entire time, and if you try anything... I will not hesitate to put an arrow through your skull." Clint threatened; making sure Loki knew exactly how he felt about this situation.

Loki's hopeful smile made Clint seethe, but he shook off the anger, and motioned to Thor, who grabbed Loki's arm and pulled him out after Clint.

On the way to the hospital, Clint wondered what the hell he was doing. He was taking an evil god to heal his sister. An evil god who put him under some sort of freaky spell that made him betray those closest to him. Not to mention he was the god who had something going on with his sister! And Clint was just supposed to _trust_ him? This was Sammie they were talking about! It was her life on the line!

But Clint supposed that that was why he was doing this. Because her life was on the line, he had to do this. If Loki felt something towards his sister, then maybe he wouldn't try anything, and maybe he _would_ heal her. There were so many ways that this could end badly, but damn it Clint had to try.

For her.

When they got to the hospital, Clint led Loki up to Samantha's room, making sure to keep him in his sights at all times. Loki stopped at the door, hesitating. Would he be able to do this? Not only heal her, but face her again after how things ended between them. He was the reason she was lying in that hospital bed, and that was something he may never forgive himself for.

Taking a deep breath Loki gripped the doorknob, turning it gently and walking through to the other side.

When he saw Samantha lying there, he thought he might cry out. He had thought that seeing her wouldn't be as bad as seeing her bloody and unconscious, but he was wrong. Seeing her here, pale and fragile and _vulnerable_, nearly broke him. How could a mortal have this effect on him? How could the mere sight of her broken form make him feel this way?

He made his way to her side, sitting silently in the chair beside her. He stared down at his angel, his _light_, and gently held her hand in his own.

And for a while he just sat there, staring down at Samantha and wondering what it was about her that made him fall so hard for her. What trait or what feature stood out so much to him?

Was it the fact that she was the bravest, boldest, and most impulsive human that he had met? Or was it the fact that she was the most beautiful mortal he had come in contact with, with her long russet hair that seemed to flow endlessly from her head, or her blue eyes that seemed to pierce through everything?

Whatever it was, he knew he had fallen in love with her, and would do anything to make sure that his light would keep on shining.

He closed his eyes, concentrating and letting his magic flow into Samantha's body like a steady stream. He felt the energy drain out of him but drift into her, and that was all that mattered to him at the moment.

Gasping softly, he let go of her hand and held his head in his hands. He winced, but looked back up at her.

Samantha's bright blue eyes stared back at him, and a small smile played on her lips.

"Loki?"

**! #$%^**

**Sam's POV**

**! #$%^**

"Loki?" I couldn't help but let a smile creep over my features at the sight of him, even if he looked tired and pale.

Then confusion clouded my thoughts, and I looked around the room. I was lying in a bed, and upon closer inspection I realized that it was a hospital bed. A hospital? I was in a hospital?

Then I remembered the cut in my side, and passing out. The rest of the gang must have brought me here, but that still didn't explain Loki. What was Loki doing here? Why was he even here at all? Shouldn't he be in some prison somewhere, or taken back to Asgard?

"Samantha!" I heard someone cry out, and looked up to see Clint shove Loki out of the way, clambering into the chair.

"Hey Clint…" I spoke, my voice rough from being unused. I cleared my throat, and shook my head. Why was I still in the hospital? I felt great!

"Oh God, Sammie," Clint whispered, grabbing my hand and squeezing it tightly in his own. I smiled, and then looked over at Loki, who was staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

I raised my eyebrows at the two of them, and shook my head.

"So, what'd I miss?"

**! #$%^**

**A/N: Thank you guys for reading, sorry for the shortness, but I got this chapter out as soon as I could. Make sure to take a look at the poll on my profile if you haven't already. So far the Tony/OC pairing is winning, but if you want something else make sure to vote! Let me know what you think about this chapter, I know it's very unexciting, but this story is almost over. Either the next chapter or the chapter after that is going to be the end, so make sure to tune in! Let me know what you think, guys :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hey guys, so this is the last chapter. I loved writing it, though it made me sad. There is going to be a sequel, so don't worry about that. Okay, here it is! Tell me what you guys think, and don't forget to look at the poll on my profile!**

**! #$%^**

Clint stared at me in amazement, before he burst out laughing. He shook his head, and a single tear fell from his light blue eyes.

"It's good to have you back, Sammie." He whispered. I moved my hand up to his eyes, wiping them dry. I snuck a peak over at Loki, who looked very frail. Why'd he look so weak? He was also pale, more so than he usually was. What had happened?

"No seriously, what'd I miss?" I asked, and this time I was genuinely curious. It must have had something to do with Loki, that much I was almost certain of. Clint looked over his shoulder at Loki, and nodded at him, before looking back at me.

Wait, did my brother just acknowledge Loki's existence? He _nodded_ at him? What the hell was going on?

"What happened?" I asked, this time demanding an answer from them.

"I healed you," Loki spoke, and my head turned to face him.

Wait, he _healed_ me? Was that why I didn't feel any pain in my side? I reached down to my bandaged side and touched it gently, but there was no pain whatsoever. I would have looked under it, but I was in a hospital gown, and that would be embarrassing for me to have to pull up my gown.

But the fact was that I was _healed_, was that _Loki_ had healed me. I didn't know how to feel right now, whether I should be happy or sad or confused or _what_.

I looked back at Clint, and he nodded in a grim confirmation.

Whoa.

My head was spinning, and I glanced back at Loki, who was staring at me with that damned mask on his face. I was never going to be able to talk to Loki freely with Clint in the room, so I decided to get rid of him.

"Clint, can you get me a soda or something?" I asked, staring at Loki pointedly. Clint glanced between Loki and me, before shaking his head.

"No way, Sammie. There's no way I'm going to-"

"Please? This might be the last time I get to see him. Just five minutes, please," I said, begging him for this chance. I needed to talk to Loki, and I needed to talk to him alone.

Clint stared at me for a long time, before he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Five minutes. But if anything happens, you scream and I'll be right there, okay?" He asked.

"Yes, Dad." I smirked.

Clint shook his head, before heading out the door, leaving Loki and me alone.

Loki hesitated for a few seconds, before moving to sit in the chair beside my bed. I was silent for a long time; which was time spent trying to memorize everything about Loki. His face, his lips, his _eyes_. Everything about him I wanted to keep in my mind, to save it forever.

"My brother is taking me back to Asgard for judgment," Loki was the first one to speak, and his words made me freeze. I knew that this was coming, I _knew_ it, but even so, I was horrified. The one person I had to go fall in love with was going to a different realm.

But was that really any different from having him here and trying to take over the world? I mean, both ways we'll never be together. I had never really believed in the whole 'forbidden love' thing before, thinking that it couldn't be true. But now I know that it really is a possibility, and it sucked ass.

This whole thing sucked ass.

Why couldn't Loki be some awesome guy who is _not_ evil? Now, I knew that Loki wasn't evil, but he still wanted my friends dead, so I couldn't very well defend him.

"When?" I asked, and Loki shifted in his seat.

"Tomorrow morning." He spoke, and I nodded. That made sense, and yet I couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled in my stomach the moment that he had told me his sentence. But it wasn't even his punishment yet! I mean, once they get to Asgard, he'll be disciplined somehow, right? But, what if… what if they decide to… to…

No.

I couldn't even think about that.

"So this might be the last time I'll see you, right?" I asked hesitantly. I already knew the answer, yet when he nodded, I nearly started crying.

Loki must have seen the look on my face, because he scooted closer to me, grabbing my hand in his own. He pushed a stray stand of hair behind my ear, and looked down at me with those damned beautiful eyes.

"Kiss me?" I asked.

Loki startled, obviously not expecting me to ask something like that. He paused, but then let a small grin creep over his features.

"As you wish," He said, and lowered his lips to mine.

You know what they say about mind blowing kisses? Well this topped everything. _Everything_.

Our lips moved in unison, gently at first, then more passionately. This was the last time I'd get a chance to kiss him, so damn it I'm was going to make it a good one.

Loki pulled away slightly, a smile on his lips. I grinned softly back at him, and then pulled him back to me, pecking him lightly on the lips once more.

"I love you," I whispered, and was shocked that the words came out of my mouth. Yeah, Loki knew how I felt about him, but I had never said it out loud. Loki was startled as well, but his shocked expression quickly turned soft as he stared down at me.

"I don't know how or why, but I am _deeply_ in love with you, Samantha Barton,"

That was all I needed to hear. As long as we both loved each other, things would be okay, right? I mean, our love wasn't exactly fairytale worthy, but it was love never the less.

There was a knock on the door, and it opened to reveal Thor, who motioned to Loki.

"The Hawk says it is time for you to depart, brother,"

Loki glanced back at me, and I squeezed his hand tightly, nodding towards the door.

"Go…"

He hesitated, before bending down and speaking into my ear.

"I will always be with you, Samantha. Even across realms, a part of me will always remain with you." He said, letting go of my hand.

He walked towards the door, and I raised a hand in a farewell. He glanced back towards me, and I smiled softly, trying not to break down. Loki returned the saddened smile, and turned back towards the door.

"Goodbye, Loki…" I whispered when they were out of sight. I sighed and let my head fall back onto the pillow.

God, why did this all suck so much?

Thanks, life.

**! #$%^**

The next day I was a bundle of nerves. The doctors didn't understand why my wound had mysteriously disappeared, and they had decided to keep me overnight to check on me. Today was the day that Loki was leaving for good, and I wasn't going to be there to see him off.

I felt horrible, being stuck in a hospital bed when I should be there to see him leave.

I kept beating up on myself, saying that I was a horrible person, and that I shouldn't be walking this earth. I quickly stopped myself after that, saying that there was no way that I could have been there, unless I intended to break out.

Now that I think about it, I very well could have broken out of the hospital. Technically I could still break out and … no. I had to stop myself from thinking like that. It would be too painful for me to watch Loki leave for good anyways. I didn't want to turn into sobbing mess any more than I had to, so it was probably for the best that I stayed in my hospital room.

Minutes passed, then hours, and I was counting the seconds until I heard from anyone. I fell asleep for a little while, but quickly woke when I heard footsteps approaching my bedside. I opened my eyes and turned my head to see someone that made me smile instantly.

"Hey Tony," I greeted him, still grinning. Tony made his way to the chair that was by my bed, sitting down with a small smirk

"Hey sunshine," He replied. I was expecting something sarcastic to come from him, but he stayed silent. His warm brown eyes looked sad, and I thought I knew why.

"He's gone?" I asked.

Tony nodded, and my heart sank.

"Thor took Loki and the Tesseract back to wherever the hell they're from,"

Still no sarcastic comments or rude remark about Loki. He even looked sad. _Why_?

"So, why aren't you jumping up and down with glee now that Loki's gone?" I asked, needing to know why he was acting like this. Tony hesitated for a few seconds, before answering.

"I am glad that he's gone, don't get me wrong. I've had enough of the destruction he causes for a lifetime, but I guess I'm just worried about _you_," He said, and I frowned.

"Worried about me?" I shook my head. "Why are you worried about me?"

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Well, I don't want you to go all depressed teenager on me and shut down now that he's gone," He said.

I nodded. That made sense.

But _was_ I going to break down? I thought to myself for a while, before responding.

"I think that I'll be okay. In all honesty, it sucks. It really fucking sucks. But I think that I'll get through it. I mean, I got by okay before I met him, I'm sure that I can do it again," I said, looking over at him.

Tony nodded, and looked down at the floor.

"I didn't think that you cared, old man," I joked, smiling. Ton's head shot up, and he had a very serious look on his face.

"_Never_ think that. _Ever_. Do you hear me? I don't want you _ever_ thinking that I don't care about you because, damn it, I _do_," He said.

My eyes widened, and I was about to say something when Tony started talking again.

"Do you know how scared I was, Samantha, when you passed out on us? I have _never_ been that scared in my life. I didn't know if you were going to make it, and that scared the shit out of me. So don't ever think that I don't care about you, Samantha, because I _do_." He finished, looking me straight in the eyes.

I had no words for how I felt at that moment. I was amazed, shocked, and touched all at the same time. I couldn't put my feelings into words, so I settled for action instead.

I launched myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck. He startled, but quickly recovered, holding me tight. I felt like crying, but I told myself that I wouldn't turn into a crying mess, so I wasn't going to.

I let go, settling back down in my bed.

"Thank you Tony." I said.

"For what?" He asked.

"Everything."

**! #$%^**

Funny thing, time. It seemed to go by so quickly at times, yet drag by at others. When Loki was here with me, it seemed to zoom by, yet when I was sitting there by myself, it seemed to crawl.

They let me out of the hospital later that day, much to my enjoyment, and apparently I was going to stay at Tony's tower for the time being. Clint was going to be there too, along with the rest of the Avengers. According to Steve, Fury had ordered us all to stay together for the next couple of weeks, until everything settled down. The one place where we were able to do that would be Stark Tower, or better yet, the Avenger's Tower. I thought it was a great idea, staying with everyone that I loved.

Well, everyone except one.

The days passed by quickly after I moved into Tony's place, and the time was spent by joking around with Tony, learning about gamma radiation from Bruce, and sparring with Clint and Natasha. Steve and I hung out too, whenever he wasn't working out with his punching bag.

New York was rebuilding itself after the attack, slowly but surely, and I helped out whenever I could. We all did, and we did it together.

But over the weeks, it felt more and more like I was losing myself. As the time went by, I found myself beginning to cry myself to sleep at night. It felt like there was no point, no point in anything. I felt like I couldn't go on, but I had to, and I _would_.

I had been through hell and back, and I wasn't going to be defeated by this. Not now, not ever.

Time kept passing, and yet I kept going on.

Funny thing, time. It can pass, crawl, drag, fly, and—as anyone knows who's ever had to deal with a deadline—run out. It can rush by so quickly you feel like all you did was blink, and suddenly months have passed.

But the one thing it never does—can never do—is stop.

**! #$%^**

**A/N: Ladies and Gentlemen, that was the last chapter of Complicated! Dear God, I actually finished something! Well, fear not, there **_**will**_** be a sequel! I'll post another chapter telling you guys when the first chapter of the sequel is up, so keep your eye out for it! And don't worry about Loki disappearing, there'll be plenty of him in the next book, and you'll get to see what happens to him and Sam. Will they finally be able to be together? You'll have to read to find out! Okay, so I just want to thank all of my reviewers, and we **_**did**_** make it past the 200 review mark, a new record for me. You guys are the reason I'm able to keep writing; you are the fuel for my fire! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! I know that I absolutely **_**loved**_** writing it! Thank you; thank you a million times, thank you!**

**P.S.**

**How would you feel about a love triangle in the next book? Let me know :D**

**P.P.S.**

**Don't forget to check out the poll on my profile page!**

**-Sara**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Hey guys, the sequel to **_**Complicated**_** is up! It's called **_**Don't**__**Let**__**Me**__**Fall**_**. So just go to my profile page and check it out, and make sure to review. It has been really fun to write this story, and am sad that it's over. But now I have **_**Don't Let Me Fall**_**, so I'll be okay. Okay, I think that's all I have to say. Oh, while you're on my profile page, make sure to vote on my poll if you haven't already. Thank you guys! And if you're not going to read the sequel, even though it makes me sad, I just want to say thank you for sticking with the story to the end, and I wish you guys well.**

**-Sara**


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